Remember that one letter, postcard, or package that you were expecting to come, but it never did? And then you went and complained to the post office, but gave up after a month or two and admitted that it got lost?
Well, it’s not that it got lost, but it probably got delayed. Try waiting for 100 years, maybe it’ll turn up.
No, I’m not kidding, post can turn up after 100 years as this has happened to one woman from Michigan, who has just now received a postcard that was sent out back in 1920.
People have heard of "snail mail", but getting a postcard 100 years later is a bit ridiculous
Image credits: Brittany Keech
So, on September 8th, Brittany Keech, a resident of Belding, Michigan, got an unexpected postcard that seemed a tad bit affected by another time. She decided to investigate and took a look at anything that would explain the state of the postcard, and more importantly, the sender.
The postcard was marked as dispatched on October 29th, 1920. 1920! This is just a month and a half shy of a full 100 years! Apparently, it was addressed to somebody named Roy McQueen at Keech’s address and came with a vintage postage stamp that’s appropriate for its time: one-cent George Washington.
Brittany Keech from Michigan recently got a Halloween Greeting Card that's been sent out in 1920
Image credits: Brittany Keech
As is with all new inhabitants, Keech was no stranger to someone else’s mail coming into her house because she had moved into her current home just 2 years ago. (Heck, I personally have been living in my new flat for 6 years, still getting the previous owner’s mail!)
The date surely surprised Keech as she didn’t even know if she could read it in the first place. She knew that it was definitely old judging by how tattered it was and the vintage Halloween-themed illustration congratulating Roy, who never got the card in the first place, on the spooky holiday.
At first, Keech wasn’t sure if it’s real, but sure enough, the more she got to investigating it, the more sure she was about its authenticity: “Just by what their letter contained and everything and what they're saying, I knew that it was more than just, you know, some postcards you can buy on eBay to send as like a general... greeting to somebody," she explained to NBC.
Even though the address is correct, the receiver is different, namely one Roy McQueen
Image credits: Brittany Keech
The postcard reads as follows:
“Dear Cousins,
Hope this will find you all well. We are quite well but mother has awful lame knees. It is awful cold here. I just finished my history lesson and am going to bed pretty soon. My father is shaving and my mother is telling me your address. I will have to close for a night. Hope grandma and grandpa are well. Don’t forget to write us – Roy get his pants fixed yet.”
Keech was rather surprised as she's used to getting other people's mail—but not 100 Y.O. mail
Image credits: Brittany Keech
Poor Roy never got this, so Keech decided to have it delivered to its rightful owners (or quite likely their relatives at this point). Keech explained that people were very helpful in trying to track down the family, and after an interview on this with the New York Times, the editorial told her that someone who’s related to Roy got in touch with them, so Keech is working on getting it into the right hands.
Before all this, Keech posted her unexpected find on Facebook, in a group called Positively Belding, where the public picked it up and the search was kicked off. Now this situation is making headlines throughout the internet.
Keech has since then started to look for Roy or any of his relatives to deliver this postcard to
Image credits: Brittany Keech
What are your thoughts on this? How many years do you still have left for a postcard, letter or parcel to arrive until it reaches 100? Let us know in the comments section below!
Here's how the internet reacted to the 100-year delivery service
