Don't Worry Club

Black and white illustration of a man on white background. Light blue outer rim with white text. 

The Don’t Worry Club was a religious and social movement in the late nineteenth century, founded by Theodore Frelinghuysen Seward.  Seward began the movement on the assumption that worry was the greatest threat to happy home life.  Founded on very Victorian principles, the movement focused on female “affections and intuitions” as a means to throw off the dogmas of the Christian faith and reach “spiritual emancipation.”

The idea of positive thought is something that grew exponentially throughout the turn of the 19th/20th century or what is called the 'Progressive Era'. Positive thought was even used in marketing, as seen in C.W Post's The Road to Wellville - A promotional booklet for Grape-Nuts and Postum. As a whole the positive thought movement was popular among Seventh Day Adventists who often advised positive thought to help with illness. Dyspepsia, now known as indigestion, had no true cure during the Progressive Era and many believed that dietary changes coupled with positive thought would cure dyspepsia and many other illnesses.

The Don’t Worry Movement. (1898, February 27). The New York Times, p. 14.