Postcard mailed in 1953 returns to its sender after 72 years

When an Illinois post office received a postcard that had been missing for 72 years, officials were able to locate and get in touch with the now-88-year-old sender.

When Alan Ball's 1953 postcard to his parents, Frederic and Elizabeth Ball, arrived at the Ottawa Post Office, Postmaster Mark Thompson became intrigued by the mystery.

According to Thompson, the card, which features the UN headquarters in New York, was probably mismanaged at the UN post office and spent decades lost before being reintroduced into the market.

In order to find Alan Ball, who now resides in Sandpoint, Idaho, the postmaster sought the assistance of local genealogists.Ball recognised his handwriting after seeing a digital copy of the card, but he couldn't recall mailing it.

However, he did recall briefly visiting New York in 1953 before travelling to Puerto Rico.

A similar incident happened last year when a postcard reached its destination in Swansea, Wales, 121 years after the date on its postmark.

The postcard's 72-year voyage is nothing compared to that. Instead of being lost in transit for more than a century, a Royal Mail spokesperson conjectured that the postcard had somehow returned to the system.