
Reuel Colt Gridley was an American storekeeper who gained nationwide attention in 1864. Gridley supported the Democratic candidate for mayor in Austin, Nevada where he operated a grocery store.
He made a bet with a Republican friend that the loser would carry a fifty-pound sack of flour through the town. He performed his punishment with the accompaniment of the town band, and at the end someone offered that the sack should be auctioned off to raise money for the Sanitary Commission’s Fund, a new organization that aided disabled Civil War veterans.
After finally selling for $250, the winning bidder did not take the sack, but donated it back to Gridley to be auctioned off again. It was auctioned repeatedly until over $8,000 was raised.
When nearby Virginia City, Nevada heard of the event (and where young newspaper editor Mark Twain was working at the time), they invited Gridley to come there, which he did.
He then traveled to California where San Franciscans donated $2,800 and Sacramento citizens donated $10,000 before heading to St. Louis and the major eastern cities. These bidders added around $170,000 to the Sanitary Commission’s fund.
Within twelve months Gridley had more than $250,000 with his one sack of flour (equivalent to $5,026,000 in 2024).
Source: Wikipedia