I wish I could contribute to the history of reading the 9th Step promises at meetings, but I can't. I found that when I got sober in Toledo, Ohio back in late 1990, they tended to be read more at open meetings.
I stole this PDF from a fellow who got it from an Atlanta Men's Workshop. It claims 147 promises from the first Roman-numbered pages through to 164 in the Big Book. It also says that to include Dr Bob's story takes the count over 150.
So when I'm asked to "read the Promises" in a meeting, I always preface it by saying "There's over 140 promises in the Big Book - these are just the ones after the ninth step..."
