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Long Time Coming: Errant Messages, Lost Letters & Misdirected Mail

I'd just like to know what happened to the stuff I posted to myself from the US nearly three months ago.
 
POSTCARD LAY UNREAD FOR MORE THAN A CENTURY

11:00 - 04 September 2006
A postcard delivered to an Westcountry home has finally been read - more than 100 years after it was delivered.

The card, sent by Miss Mary Pemberton, first headmistress of the old Bishop Blackall School, Exeter, was delivered to a house in Thornton Hill in the city in the summer of 1896.

The Victorian postman slipped the card through the letterbox - but unknown to him it fell through a gap in the door and came to rest in the base, where it stayed, unknown of, unread and forgotten.

Miss Pemberton went on to live a long and happy life in the house until her death in 1931. The postcard was there when the new headmistress, Miss S Fryer, moved in - and was still there when she died in 1950.

And it would still be there today but for Kerrin Lyons, his wife Ginny and their three children, Tom, Joe and Ben.

The family moved into the old house three years ago and have been renovating it ever since.

One of the last jobs was revamping the old front door, and when Mr Lyons took the bottom bit of wood off the postcard popped out. "It is postmarked 1896," he said. "It must never have been read and has sat there for more than 100 years. It is amazing to find it.

"Miss Pemberton appears to have been on holiday and sent the card to her housemaid or whoever was looking after the house in her absence.

"It refers to a Mr Thornton - most probably the man after whom the street is named - and warns of youngsters stealing the plums and the need to ensure some are available for Mr Thornton."

Mr Lyons, a designer and architect, and his wife, who runs her own catering business, Ginny Lyons Catering, plan to frame the fascinating card.
http://tinyurl.com/g7zjv
 
Postcard delivered 90 years too late
By Nick Britten
Last Updated: 2:04am GMT 16/02/2007

When Private Walter Butler posted a card to his sweetheart from the trenches in the First World War, neither thought too much about it when it failed to arrive.

Pte Butler, who was fighting on the Western Front with the Dorset Regiment, went on to marry his girlfriend, Amy Hicks, and the pair lived long and happy lives in Chippenham, Wilts.

Last week the card mysteriously reappeared when Martin Kay, a postman, found it had been placed in his delivery sack. With Pte Butler and his wife now dead, he tracked down their only daughter, Joyce Hulbert, 86, and delivered it, 90 years too late. Mrs Hulbert said: "I would love to know where it has been all this time."
http://tinyurl.com/2oxmz6
 
Christmas card arrives 93 years late

Fri Dec 14, 10:35 PM ET

OBERLIN, Kan. - A postcard featuring a color drawing of Santa Claus and a young girl was mailed in 1914, but its journey was slower than Christmas. It just arrived in northwest Kansas.

The Christmas card was dated Dec. 23, 1914, and mailed to Ethel Martin of Oberlin, apparently from her cousins in Alma, Neb.

It's a mystery where it spent most of the last century, Oberlin Postmaster Steve Schultz said. "It's surprising that it never got thrown away," he said. "How someone found it, I don't know."

Ethel Martin is deceased, but Schultz said the post office wanted to get the card to a relative.

That's how the 93-year-old relic ended up with Bernice Martin, Ethel's sister-in-law. She said she believed the card had been found somewhere in Illinois.

"That's all we know," she said. "But it is kind of curious. We'd like to know how it got down there."

The card was placed inside another envelope with modern postage for the trip to Oberlin — the one-cent postage of the early 20th century wouldn't have covered it, Martin said.

"We don't know much about it," she said. "But wherever they kept it, it was in perfect shape."


http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071215/ap_ ... 5rFcHtiBIF
 
hallybods said:
A friend was telling me that she found stacks of mail that had been dumped in her mother's garden last week. It contain hospital appointments, medicine and letters that did have cheques in them.

What are the chances of all these data CDs that have 'gone missing' in the UK turning up in 50 years time in somebody's back garden? :roll:
 
Four-year wait for Christmas card

A Northumberland couple were astonished to receive a late Christmas card from former neighbours - one of whom died two years ago.
It emerged the card, addressed to Brian and Brenda Mole's Berwick home, had actually been posted in 2003.

The card popped through the couple's letter box in East Ord after taking more than four years to travel just four miles.

Royal Mail said it was unable to account for the delay.

'Good condition'

The couple's friends Geordie and Anne Henderson moved to the Shoresdean area of Berwick, but always kept in touch. Mr Henderson sadly died in 2003.

Mr and Mrs Mole had already received a Christmas card from Mrs Henderson, so it was only on closer inspection that they realised what had happened.

Mr Mole said: "The envelope and card still look in good condition, so I wonder if it has been laying at the bottom of a mail sack or something."

Mrs Mole added: "We were amazed when we realised it was from Geordie and Anne because Geordie died a couple of years ago.

"We've not been able to find out why it took so long to get here."

Royal Mail spokesman said: "It is difficult to speculate on what might have happened, but there doesn't seem to be any particular reason why it should have been delayed so long."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/tyne/7184753.stm
 
We're sorry this item has been delayed, says Royal Mail as postcard arrives 79 YEARS late
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 9:11 PM on 16th August 2008

It might count as a special delivery but certainly not for the usual reason - this postcard reached its destination 79 years late.

The picture card was sent in 1929 from Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, and addressed to a Mr and Mrs Richardson in East Dulwich, London.

It has finally arrived at the right address after a delay of nearly eight decades, though sadly the Richardsons were no longer there to receive it.

Helpfully, the card had been placed inside a Royal Mail envelope with a label saying: 'We are sorry that this item has been damaged/delayed in the post.'

Arthur Davies and June Nicolopoulos were stunned when the postcard came through their letterbox last Friday.

Construction manager Mr Davies, 59, said: 'I've heard of delays but this takes some beating - I reckon it's been under a skirting board at a Royal Mail building all this time.

'It's amazing that Royal Mail even delivered it at all after all these years.'

When the card was posted the Second World War was still 10 years off, the Wall Street Crash had not happened, women had only just been granted equal voting rights with men and it would be 37 years until England lifted the World Cup.

The card has a picture of a war memorial on one side and had been sent with a red one penny stamp.

On the other side, in neat handwriting, is a short message from two women named May and Nell addressed to 'Dear Auntie and Uncle'.

The note simply reads: 'Have arrived safely, got down about one o'clock, will write soon.'

The couple now living at the address in Lacon Road have rented their home there for 26 years. Neither they, nor anyone in the street, has any idea who May, Nell or the Richardsons are or were.

Ms Nicolopoulos, 60, a child minder, said: 'It's a wonder they didn't charge us the excess postage on the one penny stamp.

'I don't know where it's been for the last 80-odd years - but now there's hope for all those Government CD-Roms that were lost in the post.' 8)

She added: 'The Richardsons may have grandchildren who are still alive and if they get in touch they are welcome to have it back.'

Mr Davies said: 'I spoke to our postman and he said their are loads of "letter traps" in Royal Mail buildings - nooks and crannies where letters or postcards can get lost.

'Whenever they renovate a building they must find all sorts of correspondence - and they are duty-bound to post it eventually.

'But I'm not holding out much hope of solving the mystery of who the people who sent it were - they must be in their nineties now.'

Royal Mail had another theory about the delay.

A spokesman said: 'It is very unlikely that it has been in the Royal Mail system for that length of time.

'The most likely explanation is that the item has been re-entered into our postal system and then delivered to the correct address.' :roll:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -late.html

(With pics)
 
Postcard delivered after 40 years
It was full of details about a holiday in the sun.Only problem was the the news was 40 years old.
Published: 9:00AM BST 10 Oct 2009

A postcard bringing holiday news to a couple in Almondbury has just been delivered - 40 years after it was posted.

Couple David and Jennifer Palliser were dumbfounded to find the postcard - bearing a 5d stamp and addressed to a previous occupant of their house - among the bills landing on the doormat.

And it came amid mounting fears that postal workers are set to go on national strike.

The Communication Workers Union revealed on Thursday that members backed a nationwide walkout by 3-1 in protest at the "imposition" of changes to working practices as well as cuts in their pay and job losses.

The postcard was sent by someone called Heather to a Mr and Mrs Sedgwick at 27 Broadgate Crescent.

The postmark shows it was posted in June or July, 1969, in Shakespeare's birthplace of Stratford on Avon.

Heather talks about enjoying the sunshine, watching plays and seeing a match at Wimbledon's Centre Court.

Heather comments on having seats behind US tennis player Charlie Pasarell - who that summer famously defeated Pancho Gonzalez in the longest match in Wimbledon history at 5hrs 14mins.

The Wimbledon men's singles title was eventually won by Australian Rod Laver while Britain's Ann Jones took the women's title.

The postcard, featuring a colour picture of Anna Hathaway's Cottage, also bears a stamp marking the Garrick Theatre Jubilee 1769-1969. Famous Shakespearean actor David Garrick built the first theatre in Stratford in 1769.

Mrs Palliser said: "I saw the postcard lying on the mat with the other post and my first thought was - who's sent us a postcard?"

"I read the name and thought it must have come to the wrong house.

"Then I saw it had a 5d stamp and realised it was properly addressed but was 40 years old.

"The postcard looks to be in good condition, considering its age.""

Mrs Palliser said a Mr and Mrs Sedgwick had lived at the address - but they left some years before the Pallisers moved in during 1986 and the house had at least two other occupants in between.

Mr Palliser said: "We are asking around some of the neighbours who may know what became of the Sedgwicks or their relatives.

"If possible, we'd like to make sure the postcard gets to its rightful recipients."

A spokesman for Royal Mail said: "Without seeing the item, it's difficult to speculate as to what may have happened, but it's extremely unlikely that it's been in our system all that time as we regularly check all our sorting machines and offices.

"It could be that it has only recently been re-posted by a member of the public."

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstop ... years.html
 
A letter sent by a British soldier during World War II has arrived at its destination over 64 years late, after it was delivered by Royal Mail to an RAF base.

The letter, hand-written on American Red Cross paper, was posted by Serviceman Charles Fleming to a woman identified only as 'my dearest', on March 20 1945.

It was found by staff at the RAF Lakenheath near Brandon, in Suffolk inside a new envelope, after the original was damaged and lost, along with a note from Royal Mail with the words 'found loose in post please direct if possible.'

It is believed that employees at Royal Mail's sorting centre in Peterborough forwarded the 64-year-old letter to staff at the base, which acts as a European station for the US Air Force.

Military personnel also found three photographs inside the envelope which included a portrait picture of Fleming, a picture of his regiment and a picture of him in Florence, Italy.

The two-page letter, signed 'Charles', has writing on both sides, and offers information about life in a military camp, or possibly a hospital, in Italy.

In the letter Fleming offered to buy his 'dearest' a pair of glasses to help her with her 'night work', and revealed how he had lost weight, topping the scales at nine stone.

He added that he was writing the letter on ARC paper because he has left his usual writing material at another base.

The letter also described entertainment at the camp which included 'pictures or concerts' and the fact a 'convivial evening seems to act as some type of safety valve.'

He joked: 'Don't get the idea I am hors de combat with an American nurse holding my hand!'

Today baffled American staff at the RAF base appealed for Fleming's family to come forward.

RAF Commander at Lakenheath, Jerry Neild said the letter was beautifully written and should be returned to the veteran's family if possible.

He said: 'It's a really lovely letter representative of the age. We believe it came from a British serviceman but it is a complete mystery as to who he is.

'It appears to be part of a series of letters and was posted to us here randomly, simply because it didn't have its original envelope and we have an American connection.

'We think it has come from the Royal Mail sorting centre in Peterborough which is where most of our mail passes through.

'This letter and photographs really are part of history and we are appealing to the public to help us track him or his family down so we can pass it on.'

A Royal Mail spokeswoman said it was impossible for the item to have been in their system for more than 60 years.

She said: 'The item would not have been in our system for that length of time and the most likely explanation is that it was recently reposted into Royal Mail.'

Although technically an RAF station, Lakenheath hosts United States Air Force unit the 48th Fighter Wing and American personnel.

It has hosted US Air Force and its staff since 1948 and is part of the US's strategic air force permanently stationed in Europe.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... -late.html

That 'reposted' idea seems to have become an essential part of the PR toolkit.
 
I've had this happen to me. I bought a neutral density photo filter off ebay. A pretty expensive filter ($50.00 or so US). Paid with Paypal. Six weeks go by & no filter. I contact the seller and he says he sent it right out about 6 weeks before,but he adds he didn't have a way to track it so he reluctantly sent me out another one (you could tell by his wording he didn't believe I hadn't received it). I thanked him & promised that if two filters showed up I'd send one back. A few days later I received the filter and left the seller positive feedback.
A year later the original filter shows up in the mail box one day & true to my word I sent it back to the man.
 
The last post! First World War soldier's card home is finally delivered... 94 years late
By Daily Mail Reporter
Last updated at 7:53 AM on 22nd February 2011

A First World War postcard has finally been delivered - a staggering 94 years after it was sent.
Soldier Alfred Arthur, 19, sent the card to his sister Ellen, known as Nell, in January 1916 at the height of the Great War.
Tragically the hero was killed in the brutal fighting which killed millions from all sides in the blood-soaked trenches on the Western Front in France.

Alfred's card poignantly ended up with Lauren Bleach, 61, and her partner Jill Liversidge more than nine decades on.
They decided to find out where it had come from after it arrived at their home in Lakenham, Norwich.
Mrs Bleach said: 'When we read it we were so emotionally taken because it's from a soldier who was obviously at a training camp waiting to go away to his sister.
'He lived in this street presumably all that time ago and it's only just arrived.
'The postcard is dated 1916 and bears a cartoon picture of a newly-recruited soldier on the front.
Thoughtful Alfred has written to his beloved sister: 'Dear Nell, Just a postcard to let you know I have not forgotten you.
'On the other side you will see our orders for next week. I will need your pity.Drop me a line, your brother Alfred.'

The front of the card, referred to in Alfred's note, displays a poster which says 'Orders of the day: Eight hours drill, eight hours route march, eight hours trenching' and the recruit saying 'And then we have the rest of the day to ourselves!' 8)

Alfred was born in Lakenham and went to school nearby a century ago_One of his descendants is his great-nephew Brian Buxton, 68, of Salhouse, Norfolk.
Mr Buxton said: 'I was completely surprised. We have no documentation of this sort in our family.' Alfred was one of nine children.
He sent the postcard to his sister Ellen just before he was sent to fight the Germans in the frontline.
Alfred joined the second battalion the Kings Royal Rifle Corps. He was despatched to Newhaven, East Sussex, to train before going to fight for king and country.
It was during his time training on the south coast that the young serviceman wrote the postcard.

Tragically Alfred was mortally wounded at the Hindenburg Line at Grecourt in 1918 and died just four days later.
His sister Nell died, still heartbroken by his brutal wartime death, in 1964.

Mrs Bleach said: 'We were really, really sad and we thought we've just got to find out more about this because it's such a beautiful story.
'I am a strong supporter of the Help for Heroes charity and hope that people will donate when they remember the soldiers who also haven't come back to their families.
'Not only was the postcard 94 years late, but it was also delivered to a different door number from the one it was addressed to.'
The postcard is marked 1916 and again September 2010 when it was stamped 'repair duty'.

It eventually arrived in November, with a note which apologised that it had been damaged and for the delay in delivering it. The original stamp and postmark have been confirmed as genuine.
But Royal Mail said it is very unlikely the card was with them all that time as they regularly clean out their sorting office and post boxes. The postcard's history for the last 94 years remains a total mystery.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... z1EgaTeWQc
 
Quite a few of the comments over at the DM suggest that perhaps the postcard WAS originally delivered then acquired by a antiques dealer after the recipient's death. Then perhaps someone bought it and popped in the post as a joke.

I hadn't thought of that before, but when you think about it, it could explain quite a few of these long overdue deliveries! Perhaps it's the same bloke and he's been at it for decades?
 
There was an item on the local news about one of these 'missing in action' postcards last night.
The card was looked at by a stamp dealer who commented that the card had clearly been out of the daylight for the missing years.
Royal Mail said that there was no way it could have been lost in the system for all this time, and as Mr Bin pointed out the sorting office would have moved building a couple of times since the day it was posted.
 
rev_dino said:
Quite a few of the comments over at the DM suggest that perhaps the postcard WAS originally delivered then acquired by a antiques dealer after the recipient's death. Then perhaps someone bought it and popped in the post as a joke.
I've had the impression that antique postcards can be quite pricey, so reposting them might be an expensive hobby! Especially as you might never see the results of your prank.

I'll have to check the prices next time I see a PC dealer.
 
17 July 2011 Last updated at 05:33

US love letter posted in 1958 to arrive 53 years late

A love letter to a US college student from the girlfriend who was to become his wife is finally on its way to him - 53 years after it was written in 1958.
The letter surfaced in a Pennsylvanian university mailroom earlier this month.

It was addressed to Clark C Moore, who has since changed his name to Muhammad Siddeeq, making it hard to trace him.
But a friend saw a TV report about it and contacted the sorting office. Mr Siddeeq, 74, says he is still eager to read it, despite now being divorced.

The letter mysteriously arrived at the California University of Pennsylvania, in the north-eastern state of Pennsylvania, 10 days ago.
Written to Mr Moore, the two-page letter was postmarked 20 February 1958 and signed "love forever Vonnie".

Mr Siddeeq, a retired teacher who is now living in the mid-western city of Indianapolis, said he was shocked when he was contacted by the university.
"We have a system here in America where if something is for you and if they find it, it gets to you, that's beautiful," he told US TV station WTAE.

He and his girlfriend wrote to each other when he was studying science, he said.
They did eventually marry and have four children.
Romance was different then - with no computers, letter writing was the only way to stay in touch and remains more romantic than emails, he said.

He admitted to having mixed emotions about the letter as he and Vonnie are now divorced.
But he told Washington's Observer-Reporter paper that he was keen to read it as it was "a testament of the sincerity, interest and innocence of that time".

University officials said the letter was now on its way to him along with a T-shirt from the university.
"He said if he didn't get that package within the next 53 years, he would call to complain," university spokeswoman Christine Kindl told Reuters news agency. 8)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-14175692
 
Only 57 years late... postcard from Egypt sent in 1954 FINALLY lands on the doormat in Britain
By James Tozer
Last updated at 4:04 PM on 14th August 2011

It's always welcome to find a postcard on the doormat from relatives enjoying themselves abroad.
But when 80-year-old Margaret Eastham picked up the black-and-white card delivered by the postman, she was stunned to read who it was from.
The cheery message was from her sister-in-law, Dorothy, who died four years ago – and was written way back in 1954 when she was emigrating to Malaysia.

Extraordinarily, the card took 57 years to make its way from a postbox in modern-day Yemen – where her ship had made a stop – to Preston, Lancashire.
Fortunately, retired florist Mrs Eastham still lives in the same house, and was able to marvel at the relic from a bygone decade.
‘I really couldn’t believe my eyes,’ the grandmother-of-seven said yesterday.
‘My first thought was that it was from my neighbours who are in India, but then I recognised the writing as Dorothy’s, only she died four years ago.
‘When I saw the date on the postmark, I was really taken back.
‘It is amazing really that after all this time it still arrived. And it is in excellent condition.
‘It is certainly a turn-up for the books.’

Back in 1954, Duncan, the brother of Mrs Eastham's husband Merrick, had emigrated to what was then Malaya to work in the rubber plantations.
That December, his new wife Dorothy bought a one-way ticket to join him there, finding time to send the card back to England part-way through her six-week journey by sea.

etc...

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... itain.html
 
Dear Santa Letter sent 100 years ago found up chimney
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/fro ... 41785.html
MICHAEL O'REGAN and PAMELA DUNCAN

Wed, Dec 21, 2011

IT MAY have been slightly scorched over the years but a letter to Santa written 100 years ago, which was later discovered in a Dublin fireplace, has the magic of Christmas written all over it.

On Christmas Eve 1911, a brother and sister, who signed their names, “A or H Howard”, penned their personally designed letter to Santa with their requests for gifts and a good luck message at their home in Oaklands Terrace, Terenure (or Terurnure, as the children spelled it) in Dublin.

They placed it in the chimney of the fireplace in the front bedroom so that Santa would see it as he made his way into the Howard household in the early hours of the morning.

The letter was discovered by the house’s current occupant, John Byrne, when he was installing central heating in 1992.

Since then, he has retained it as a souvenir of another time and place but with the stamp of childhood innocence which still exists today.

The message to Santa was warm but explicit.

“I want a baby doll and a waterproof with a hood and a pair of gloves and a toffee apple and a gold penny and a silver sixpence and a long toffee.”

Ownership of the house changed over the decades, with the Byrne family moving there in 1961, but the letter survived.

“At that time, the fireplaces were made of brick with a shelf on either side,” said John Byrne who works in the building industry.

“The letter was found on one of the shelves.”

The letter remained remarkably intact given the passage of time and was only slightly burned from fires set in the house over the years.

As well as the requests for gifts from Santa the letter also contains drawings and a message of “Good Luck” to Santa from the children.

According to the 1911 census there were three children living at the address in the year in which the letter was written.

The youngest of them, Hannah, who was 10 at the time, and Fred (presumably short for Alfred) who was seven, fit in with the initials on the letter.

A third child, a 13-year-old called Lily, is also listed.

The Howard family were all born in England, including parents Fred Hamer Howard, an “under manager” in a plumber merchants, and his wife Mary Elizabeth. They listed their religion as Church of Ireland.
 
Dear Santa: early Christmas gift as man realises his mother is 100-year-old letter's author
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ire ... 80171.html
EOIN BURKE-KENNEDY

Thu, Dec 22, 2011

THE SPIRIT of Christmas past turned up unannounced for Victor Bartlem yesterday in the form of a 100-year-old letter from his late mother, Hannah “Annie” Howard, to Santa.

The slightly scorched missive, dating from Christmas Eve 1911, when Hannah was 10 years old, was discovered up a chimney in a house in Terenure, Dublin, as reported in The Irish Times yesterday.

Sitting at home in Bangor, Co Down, yesterday while his wife read out details of the story, Mr Bartlem initially failed to make any connection between himself and the young girl in the story. Even when the address on the letter – Oaklands Terrace, Terenure – was mentioned, he put it down to coincidence.

It was only when he heard the name Hannah that he realised the girl in the letter was his mother. “I simply couldn’t believe it. I never knew about this letter. I never even knew it existed.”

His mother’s carefully crafted Christmas wishlist, topped with a good luck message for Santa, was discovered in the chimney by the house’s current occupant, John Byrne, when he was installing central heating in 1992. He kept the letter as a memento of times past, deciding only to publicise its existence this year to mark its 100th anniversary.

In her letter, Hannah, like many 10-year-olds, is quite explicit about what she wants from Santa.

“I want a baby doll and a waterproof with a hood and a pair of gloves and a toffee apple and a gold penny and a silver sixpence and a long toffee.”

As the letter was signed “A or H Howard”, it was initially thought to be jointly from Hannah and her younger brother, Alfred.

However, Mr Bartlem confirmed his mother Hannah went by the name “Annie”, hence the “A or H Howard” on the letter, a clever insurance policy in case Santa got confused.

Hannah was born on Christmas Day 1900. The excitement of having her birthday on the same day as Santa’s arrival must have been considerable.

Mr Bartlem said his mother attended the Zion Church of Ireland school in Rathgar before going on to marry Alfred Bartlem in 1931, with whom she had two sons, Howard and Victor. She and Alfred moved to a house on Lomond Avenue, Fairview, shortly after they married, where she died in 1978.

Mr Bartlem said his mother had been extremely creative, excelling at various forms of needlework and later at woodwork. She was also an expert baker of cakes and other confectionery, which may go some way to explaining her toffee-themed letter to Mr Claus.

Hannah’s niece, Iris Murphy, who lives in Stillorgan, Dublin, was also alerted to the letter’s existence only yesterday, when her daughter in Tasmania read about it on irishtimes.com.

Ms Murphy described her aunt as a “very happy-go-lucky person with a great sense of humour”.

Hannah’s elder sister, Lily, who was 13 at the time the letter was sent, died in 1996, aged 99.
 
Isle of Wight postcard arrives at Leicestershire home 45 years late
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-le ... e-22120023

The postcard was sent in 1968 from the Isle of Wight

A holiday greeting from the past landed on the doormat of a Leicestershire home when a postcard arrived - 45 years late.

Martin Morgan-Taylor made the unexpected discovery, which has two postmarks, one in the Isle of Wight on 31 July 1968 and a second from Peterborough on 8 April 2013.

The picture is of Carisbrooke Castle, on the island, and the stamp cost 8d.

Mr Morgan-Taylor would now like to trace the sender.

"This postcard arrived today after 45 years. I thought that's absolutely incredible. You hear about these things in the media, well I'm hoping everybody else might be interested," Mr Morgan-Taylor said.

'Not Margaret Thatcher'
The holiday greeting was sent to the the Stones family who are thought to have moved out of the Leicester house in the mid 1990s.

But clues to who sent it or what they did on their trip are sparse.

Mr Morgan-Taylor said: "It would have been nice if it could have [said] something really historic like 'Just had a look at one of those new colour TV screens'. All we have is 'From Margaret and Ron'."

He said he assumed it had become lost at a sorting office in Peterborough and had recently been discovered down the back of a piece of equipment.

He is now hoping to trace the enigmatic couple but is not holding out much hope.

"I think we can assume it's not Margaret Thatcher but other than that, we can't really say very much," he said.

Valerie Antoine, Royal Mail spokeswoman, said: "It is extremely unlikely that this item of mail was in our system all this time.

"It is difficult to speculate what may have happened, but almost certainly it was put back in a postbox very recently, as we regularly check all our sorting offices and machines are cleared."
 
LETTER DELIVERED AFTER 83 YEARS

USA: A letter written by a Maine school teacher in 1931 to her mother 240km away has finally been delivered — 83 years later.

Miriam McMichael had sent the nine-page letter from Houlton to Dollena McMichael in Pittsfield when she was 23 years old.

Both women have since died.

The letter was lost and only recently found at the Pittsfield post office. Postal worker Michelle Rowell found it and knew it was old because of the 2c stamp.

The postmaster and town officials tracked down the family, and the letter is now in the hands of 69-year-old Ann MacMichael, of Cornville, Miriam’s niece and Dollena’s granddaughter.

The spelling of the family name has changed.

MacMichael says the irony is that the writer apologises for not writing sooner.

http://www.irishexaminer.com/world/quir ... 74128.html
 
Undelivered letters shed light on 17th-century society

Thousands of pieces of correspondence, many still unopened, were stored away by Dutch postmaster and are now being examined by academics

An appeal for help from a desperate woman has been opened and read more than 300 years after the man it was sent to refused to accept delivery – not surprisingly, since the wealthy merchant in The Hague must have suspected it contained the unwelcome news that he was about to become a father.

The letter is part of an extraordinary treasure trove of thousands of pieces of correspondence, never delivered, many still unopened and sealed closed, found packed into a leather trunk stored away for centuries in the Netherlands.

The collection includes letters from aristocrats, spies, merchants, publishers, actors, musicians, barely literate peasants and highly educated people with beautiful handwriting, and are written in French, Spanish, Italian, Dutch and Latin.

One of the letters that has been transcribed and translated is from a woman writing to a Jewish merchant in The Hague on behalf of “a mutual friend”. The friend was a singer with the Hague opera who had left for Paris, where she discovered the disastrous truth. She needed money from the merchant to return.

“You can divine without difficulty the true cause of her despair. I cannot put it into so many words; what I ought to say to you is so excessive. Content yourself with thinking on it, and returning her to life by procuring her return,” it says.

The letter is marked “niet hebben”, indicating that the man refused to accept it. The fate of the poor singer is unknown. Daniel Starza Smith, of Oxford University, said the man was undoubtedly the father of the child – the true cause of the singer’s departure. ...

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/nov/08/undelivered-letters-17th-century-dutch-society
 
Family of Dutch resistance fighter killed by Nazis receives letter after 70 years
Peter Will wrote a goodbye note to his family from a concentration camp but after a mix-up with his belongings it was not delivered until this year
Agence France-Presse
Friday 13 November 2015 00.55 GMT

The family of a second world war Dutch resistance fighter killed in a Nazi concentration camp has received his farewell letter seven decades on.
Peter Will wrote the goodbye letter to his wife and six sons shortly before he was deported to a concentration camp in 1944 by his Nazi captors.

But the letter was not delivered to its intended recipients until this year when a family friend spotted a wallet belonging to Will while surfing an online archive documenting the fate of Nazi victims.
That discovery led to the return of the wallet – which held not just the letter, but also photos – to the family, said the International Tracing Service (ITS) archive.
“It was extremely emotional for us. This isn’t something you expect any more,” said one of Peter’s sons, Joop Will, who was just 10 years old when his father was captured.
“There is no end to the story for us, it is always in our thoughts,” he said.

Peter’s family had not expected to find any more personal belongings after his bible, wedding ring and a fountain pen were returned to them as early as in 1949.
But it turned out that the wallet had been mistakenly matched to someone else’s name.

Over the years, Joop’s brothers Peter and Bert have been tracing the life of their father and had even compiled a book about it.
They found out that their father, a meat inspector, had helped downed Allied pilots to escape, including hiding them in an abandoned shed at a slaughterhouse.
“After learning this, the older sons recalled that their father would often stand on the terrace, holding a pair of binoculars, watching the air attacks and then would disappear,” said the ITS.
He was finally arrested in Nijmegen in December 1943, and was killed in the final days of the war in 1945.

His family decided not to speak about the content of the letter.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/20...illed-by-nazis-receives-letter-after-70-years
 
Long and fascinating detective story: how did a letter sent from Paris by hot air balloon end up in Australia?
Intriguing history of 'Paris siege' letter
By Clea Caulcutt BBC News, Paris

When A Mesnier wrote to his mother in December 1870, Paris was under siege. The Prussians had surrounded the capital, food supplies were running low and temperatures had dropped below freezing.
Mr Mesnier wrote of his hopes for victory and his frustration at being unable to enlist. The letter was flown out of Paris in a "ballon monté", a hot air balloon, the only way to communicate with the rest of France.

Recently the letter has inexplicably resurfaced in Australia. But how it got there remained the big question.

etc...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-35749545

Letter flown out of Paris siege by balloon found in Australia
16 February 2016
From the section Australia

...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-australia-35583853
 
Edinburgh to Garstang postcard arrives 62 years late
2 June 2017

_96313564_postcard_lynnharter.jpg

Lynn Harter thought the postcard was a birthday greeting at first

A postcard sent from Scotland to Lancashire has arrived at its destination 62 years later.
Lynn Harter found the sepia card from Edinburgh among birthday cards that came through her letterbox in Garstang.
"I thought at first a friend knowing my interest in history had sent it," the former town councillor said.
But when she examined the card closely she found it had a 1955 postmark and was addressed to a Mr and Mrs Phillipson.

The postcard of Edinburgh Castle, which was addressed to the couple at Bridgefield, Kepple Lane, reads: "I am having a great holiday here, staying with friends. The weather is good and doing lots of sightseeing. Trust you are both keeping well, my love and best wishes Madge Johnson."

Mrs Harter checked the deeds of her home to find Mr and Mrs William Phillipson bought it in 1943.
She said: "Interestingly Mrs Helen Phillipson died in 1951 so either the sender of the postcard, Madge Johnson, didn't know she'd died, or William may have married again?"
Mr Phillipson died in 1961.

Mrs Harter said: "A friend of mine who is a postman said there are several reasons it may have taken so long. It could have been found by someone who just forwarded it or it could have got lodged in an old sorting machine and only unearthed when the machine was changed."

A keen local historian, Mrs Harter found out Mr Phillipson had moved to Garstang after retiring from the police force in Bolton.
"I know he kept a horse in a stable at the back of the bungalow and I have heard stories about a former policeman who used to ride a horse bareback through Garstang," she said.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lancashire-40130358

An all-round fascinating tale! :)
 
If the package doesn't arrive in time for the current generation of kids, it may as well languish until it's relevant for the next generation of children ...

Book order takes 20 years for delivery
A Florida woman who ordered a set of Dr. Seuss books for her granddaughter said the package finally arrived -- 20 years later.

Vera Walker of Orlando said her granddaughter was only 4 years old when she ordered the set of books in 1998. She was an adult with a 5-year-old son of her own by the time the package arrived at Walker's home.

The post office explained to Walker that the box had been found stuck inside an old mailbox.

Walker said the books arrived just in time for her to read them to her great-grandson, who she said is enjoying the classic tomes.

SOURCE: https://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2018/10/01/Book-order-takes-20-years-for-delivery/4621538407477/?sl=5
 
Postcard took 21 years for delivery.

A family has received a postcard sent from about 100 miles away - 21 years after it was written.

Tracy Elliot said her father John, who lives in Bugle, Cornwall, had only recently received the card, which said it was written in Taunton, Somerset.

She said a bit of detective work had led her to believe that it had been written in May 1997.

Royal Mail said it believed it was "likely" the card had only recently gone into the postal system.

Ms Elliot, from Bugle, said the family thought the card was sent by a friend of her father, Alison, who he knew from walks with the Ramblers' Association.

"I thought it was just a normal postcard until I started reading it and suddenly realised what it was," she added.

https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-cornwall-45861850
 
Couldn't find the mail/post thread, but this is good:
Post palaver

Apparently a lot of mail posted from the United States for Australia ends up in Austria instead. The Austrians even have a rubber stamp for the occasion. The above story relates how one package went back and forth FIVE TIMES! Is it the staff or their computer tech that can't read?
 
Maybe the US postal service are big Jim Carrey fans:
 
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