Apparently it was a very long journey for a small postcard. But the story behind it is simple: pure reliability.
Was the postcard really on the move for 120 years? The story behind the postcard that arrived in the mailbox of a house in Wales, UK, in early August 2024, began around 120 years ago.
As detailed here on smithsonianmag.com, in 1903 someone named Ewart, then living in the parish of Fishguard on the west coast of Wales, wrote a postcard to Lydia Davies, who lived at number 11, Cradock Street, Swansea.
The town is located about 50 kilometers away on the south coast of Wales. Today, however, no one lives there anymore; it is the headquarters of a construction company.
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How do we know the date the item was posted? Strictly speaking, we don’t know, but based on the stamp and the postmark, we know when the postcard first came into contact with a post office: it is stamped “AU23 03”. Henry Darby, an employee of the company, which is now based at the address in Swansea, concludes the following from this and the motif of the stamp:
August 23, 1903 and depicts King Edward VII, who wore the crown from 1901 to 1910. He is the great-great-grandfather of the current King Charles III. Tracy Coleman, a specialist at the Royal Philatelic Society London, agrees with this classification. Translated in fine handwriting, the postcard reads:
Dear L. I couldn’t, it was impossible to get the pair of them. I’m so sorry, but I hope you are comfortable at home. I have about ten now [Schilling] Pocket money, not including the train fare, so I’m fine. Please say hello to Miss Gilbert and John for me, with love to all, Ewart.
What exactly this is about remains unknown.
Who was Lydia Davies? 121 years ago, the area of Swansea where the postcard arrived was a residential area. Thanks to information collected from registration data and responses to a post by the society on Facebook, at least a rough picture has emerged:
A certain John F. Davies, a tailor, once lived at the address with his wife, Maria A Davies, and six children. Lydia was the couple’s eldest child and was probably 16 years old when the postcard was written. Ewart Davies was probably 13 in 1903. He could have been Lydia’s cousin. His father also worked as a tailor, according to data from a 1901 census. So it could have been a family tradition that both brothers followed.
We don’t know whether Lydia Davies ever received the postcard from Ewart. But perhaps the postcard will find its way back to her family. Because an alleged great-niece of Lydia has responded to a Facebook post. As of September 5, 2024, it is not clear whether this is true. However, Henry Darby from the building society in Swansea is probably looking for a home for the card.
How did the postcard get to Swansea in 2024? By post, as it should be. According to experts at the British Royal Mail, the process itself is nothing unusual.
Real postcards from the past like this one could be purchased in many shops across the UK as keepsakes, souvenirs or historical documents.
Someone had fun seeing what would happen if they bought an ancient card from an antique shop and put it in a mailbox. From then on, everything followed the correct procedure:
If a shipment is in our system, we are obliged to deliver it to the correct address.
Royal Mail of the United Kingdom
Another article from us is about a postal shipment to a country that is closed off to most people in the world. Because a package to North Korea is not an everyday occurrence, but can it even work? That would have to be tested, thought a German citizen and thought up an experiment: A German YouTuber wants to send packages to North Korea – a small gadget shows him how DHL tricks him into doing it