Sunday, December 16, 2007

Christmas Card Arrives 93 Years Late

"Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds" is the unofficial motto of the United States postal service.

The official motto is actually: "Rain, sleet, snow, heat, apathy and incompetence will probably prevent you from getting your mail at all."
A Christmas card of Santa with a young girl on it has arrived at its destination 93 years after it was sent.

It was dated December 23, 1914, and addressed to Ethel Martin in Oberlin, Kansas, from her cousins in Nebraska.
Ms Martin is now deceased and went to the grave will ill feelings about her uncaring cousins who couldn't be bothered to send a card, the incident caused a 30 year rift in the family.

The post office not being able to deliver a Christmas card before the person died of old age then gave it to the wrong person Bernice Martin, her sister-in-law.

The card was found somewhere in Illinois and then passed on to the post office. It was placed inside another envelope with modern postage for the trip to Oberlin. Which is the usual way the mail gets to its destination in America by blunder and luck.

The one-cent stamp of the early 20th century would not have covered it, Ms Martin said which is her own opinion as in 1914 one cent could get you your dinner, a night out at the theatre and a bus ride home and you'd still have change left over.

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

Oberlin Postmaster Steve Schultz said: "It's surprising that it never got thrown away. I throw mail and parcels away all the time, it keeps me sane otherwise I'd go postal, how someone found it, I don't know."

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