Photo projects
“send a postcard and receive a postcard back from a random person somewhere in the world!”

Postcard turns up after 79 years

A postcard has been delivered by Britain's Royal Mail 79 years after it was sent.

The picture postcard was sent in 1929 from Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, and intended for Mr and Mrs Richardson in East Dulwich, London.
However it was not delivered until a week ago when it finally dropped through the letter box of Arthur Davies and June Nicolopoulos after a delay of nearly eight decades.

Mr Davies, 59, a construction manager, 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."

The postcard arrived inside a Royal Mail envelope with a sticker reading, "we are sorry that this item has been damaged/delayed in the post".
From an article on The West Australian, click to continue reading.

Wow! What a great journey this postcard has had! I wonder where that postcard had been hiding... :)

Posted by meiadeleite on 24 Aug, 2008
Tags: britain, mail, postcard


16 comments so far

serenablanch, United Kingdom
Brilliant! It means that we needn't give up hope that even the oldest of our expired cards may finally arrive at their destinations.
Posted by serenablanch on 24 Aug, 2008


gailT, United States of America
whoa. wouldn't it be even awesome to find the senders or the recipients? i have hope that my expired card will eventually arrive. would postcrossing still be going strong after 79 years?
Posted by gailT on 25 Aug, 2008


geminiscp, Portugal
: ) Great knews! Congratulations to British mail service, this shows a very professional attitude. Better later than never! : )
Posted by geminiscp on 25 Aug, 2008


naturegirl, Estonia
WOW! My longest postcard journey took 70 days to arrive and I thought THAT was too much! :P Be patient, postcrossers! ;)
Posted by naturegirl on 25 Aug, 2008


Logicon, United States of America
I think the 60 Days-until-expiration limit might have to be lengthened just a bit. :P
Posted by Logicon on 25 Aug, 2008


glashelder, Belgium
Heh, and here I am worrying about a postcards 25 days (and counting) journey to Poland!
Posted by glashelder on 25 Aug, 2008


JEM, United States of America
but the addressee wasn't the one who got the card...if it wasn't for the notation about sorry for the delay, I would suspect someone had been hanging on to it elsewhere and then decided to 'deliver' it
Posted by JEM on 26 Aug, 2008


JEM, United States of America
but the addressee wasn't the one who got the card...if it wasn't for the notation about sorry for the delay, I would suspect someone had been hanging on to it elsewhere and then decided to 'deliver' it
Posted by JEM on 26 Aug, 2008


LucyO_O, China
I think as long as the Internet and Postal Service still exist in 80 years, PC is sure to be stronger. haha~
Posted by LucyO_O on 27 Aug, 2008


onehandoneheart, United States of America
that is amazing! I wonder what the actual recipients thought when they recieved the card? It's sure to be a keeper! Maybe the family of the original would have been recipients will someday hear about this, and be able to see and read it!
Posted by onehandoneheart on 29 Aug, 2008


Chtimi, United States of America
No wonder that it takes forever when I send postcards to the UK when I hear such a story!!! 1 is expired, the other one is on its 38th days to the UK.
Whose fault? The USA or the UK? Now I wonder :-)
Posted by Chtimi on 2 Sep, 2008


bridgemaster, United Kingdom
Good News everyone snail mail has just got quicker!! I recently received a postcard in one day!! True it was only over 39 miles so can I claim a Postcrossing record for shortest distance & quickest time?
Posted by bridgemaster on 16 Sep, 2008


SplashTheLab, United States of America
I once got an "overnight" envelope, sent US Mail, total distance about 350 miles. It took over 8 months to arrive. And there wasn't any apologetic sticker, either!
Posted by SplashTheLab on 18 Sep, 2008


snowhite27, United States of America
Oh My Gawd!!! That is an amazing story. I can't believe they actually delivered it. I wonder if the sending or receiving party is still alive or if they were ever contacted? I wonder what they would say? Hmmmm........
Posted by snowhite27 on 19 Sep, 2008


Shosh, United States of America
Wow, talk about some delay!
Posted by Shosh on 19 Sep, 2008


Alex_B, United Kingdom
oh my gosh
i've never heard of such a dely lol
Posted by Alex_B on 21 Sep, 2008