Talk:Velvalee Dickinson

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography
	This article is supported by the military biography work group (assessed as Low-importance).

Espionage Low‑importance

	Velvalee Dickinson is within the scope of WikiProject Espionage, which aims to improve Wikipedia's coverage of espionage, intelligence, and related topics. If you would like to participate, visit the project page, or contribute to the discussion.EspionageWikipedia:WikiProject EspionageTemplate:WikiProject EspionageEspionage
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Crime and Criminal Biography Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Crime and Criminal Biography, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Crime and Criminal Biography on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Crime and Criminal BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject Crime and Criminal BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Crime and Criminal BiographyCrime-related
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Military history: Biography / Maritime / Asian / Japanese / North America / United States / World War II Start‑class

This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history

Start

This article has been rated as Start-class on the project's quality scale.

This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
Referencing and citation: criterion met Coverage and accuracy: criterion not met Structure: criterion met Grammar and style: not checked Supporting materials: criterion met

Associated task forces:
/
	Military biography task force
	Maritime warfare task force
	Asian military history task force
	Japanese military history task force
	North American military history task force
	United States military history task force
	World War II task force

United States: FBI / Military history Low‑importance

	United States portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject United States, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of topics relating to the United States of America on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the ongoing discussions. Template Usage Articles Requested! Become a Member Project Talk Alerts United StatesWikipedia:WikiProject United StatesTemplate:WikiProject United StatesUnited States
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject FBI (assessed as Low-importance).
	This article is supported by WikiProject Military history - U.S. military history task force.

Japan: Biography / History / Military history Low‑importance

This article is within the scope of WikiProject Japan, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Japan-related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project, participate in relevant discussions, and see lists of open tasks. Current time in Japan: 17:07, April 2, 2025 (JST, Reiwa 7) (Refresh)JapanWikipedia:WikiProject JapanTemplate:WikiProject JapanJapan-related

Low

This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

This article is supported by the Biography task force.

This article is supported by the History task force.

This article is supported by the joint Japanese military history task force.

WikiProject Japan to do list:

Peer review: None
A-class review: None

Featured content candidates –

Articles: None
Pictures: None
Lists: None

Good article nominations: Vinland Saga (TV series), Godzilla Minus One
Add requested images to articles that need them.
Pages for Deletion: Participate in Japan-related deletion discussions.
Improve and expand Japan-related stubs.
Create some requested articles.
Help translate an article from the Japanese Wikipedia into English.
Assess unassessed articles

New York City Low‑importance

	New York City portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject New York City, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of New York City-related articles on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.New York CityWikipedia:WikiProject New York CityTemplate:WikiProject New York CityNew York City
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

California Low‑importance

	California portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject California, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of the U.S. state of California on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.CaliforniaWikipedia:WikiProject CaliforniaTemplate:WikiProject CaliforniaCalifornia
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Reference ideas for Velvalee Dickinson

The following references may be useful when improving this article in the future:

Kahn, David. The CodeBreakers. ISBN 0-684-83130-9.

February 2005

I wonder where this Velvalee Dickinson is today? Any news would be appreciated.--205.68.101.193 16:46, 9 Feb 2005 (UTC)bobby

While revising the article, I came across an Italian reference that stated she died in 1980, but said nothing else.--Mitsukai 17:37, 3 Jun 2005 (UTC)

March 2005

Moved here from article page by --VivaEmilyDavies 03:11, 6 Mar 2005 (UTC) : I believe this was accidentally placed on the article rather than the talk!

Ms. Velvalee Dickinsin [that's how she spelt it on her own letterhead, as shown below] was mentioned on an Antiques Roadshow episode airing on WGTV, channel 8, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, on from 8:00 to 9:00 PM on January 3rd, 2005.
The doll was wearing a blue dress. It was a "Jumeau". The appraiser for AR mistakenly identified Ms. Dickinsin as a Nazi spy. Apparently, as David Kahn explains on page 520 of _The CodeBreakers_, Ms. Dickinsin was a spy during WWII and worked out of her exclusive Madison Ave. doll shop in New York, New York, USA. The doll was accompanied by a letter, on Dickinsin's letterhead.
David Kahn explains that Dickinsin was, in fact, a spy for the Japanese, and goes into detail about what kind of codes she used, and how she was caught [she used the return address of a woman "with whom she had had a spat"]. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison and fined $10,000.00; she could easily have faced the death penalty.
The method of passing codes was via letters concerning, ostensibly, dolls. It's quite possible that the letter accompanying this doll represents an instance of "jargon code" passed among Dickinsin and her fellow spies. I imagine that, if this proves to be true, the letter may not only further enhance the value of the doll but also prove to be a valuable artifact in its own right, being, as it may well be, a surviving example of World War II espionage materiel. The doll, its dress, or something else about its presentation might have played a part in the meaning of the code, but it's more likely that the letter itself is an example of code.
The book I mention is David Kahn's _The CodeBreakers_, revised edition, ISBN 0-684-83130-9. See page 520 or refer to "Dickinson" [sic] in the index. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.158.133.190 (talk • contribs) 02:03, 7 January 2005 (UTC)

I've taken the source they listed there and put it in a {{refideas}} for future mining. — Fourthords | =Λ= | 02:19, 2 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Motivation ??

Does anyone who is already familiar with this person have any idea as to her motivations? Purely for money? Engr105th 06:36, 24 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

Clarification

This sentence "Typewritten letters between Dickinson and the women involved were identified by the FBI as having been used in the "Springfield" letter." seems confusing. Is this describing the typewritten individual characters from the typewriter (letters) are the same? Or that the entire mailed letters between the two were somehow "used" in the springfield letter? The latter is quite ambiguous.72.25.177.218 (talk) 18:33, 24 October 2014 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Velvalee Dickinson. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20130502073409/http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/velvalee-dickinson-doll-woman to https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/history/famous-cases/velvalee-dickinson-doll-woman

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

Y An editor has reviewed this edit and fixed any errors that were found.

If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 21:41, 9 December 2017 (UTC)[reply]

April 2018

I just asked myself the same “where are they now” question and was able to find limited information in the biography on Eunice Kennedy, which I’ve edited onto the end of the article. BreakfastBurrito (talk) 00:36, 8 April 2018 (UTC)[reply]

Commons files used on this page or its Wikidata item have been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons files used on this page or its Wikidata item have been nominated for deletion:

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 19:51, 22 January 2020 (UTC)[reply]