Envelope returned to sender 51 years after being posted
Author : J GALE
Contents of letter is a mystery for Cressall Resistors
Staff at Leicester based manufacturer Cressall Resistors had a blast from the past last week when an empty envelope was returned to them 51 years after the original letter was posted.
The letter was sent in September 1959 from Standard Engineering, in Evington, Leicester, to a shoe machinery company, Albeko, in Frankfurt, Germany. On top of the postmark was a recent note from the German post office stating that the address was not known and that the letter had been returned.
The Standard Engineering premises are now occupied by electrical firm Cressall Resistors. The company manufactures the giant power resistors used in industries ranging from rail and electrical generation to the built environment and environmentally friendly electric cars.
Sales administrator Sharren Bradshaw said: "I was doing the company's post and I noticed the old-fashioned type on the envelope. I thought it might be some kind of prank at first. So I carefully peeled back the German post office sticker on the front and found the postmark said 1959. Sadly, the envelope was empty. It looked like it had been cut open with a guillotine. It was probably an envelope with an invoice inside it originally."
Cressall Resistors’ managing director, Peter Duncan, said the reason the letter had taken 18,638 days to make the round trip to Frankfurt and back remained a mystery. "The envelope is in good condition and it looks like it was posted last week."
Duncan, who has worked on the premises for both Standard Engineering and Cressall Resistors said, "Happily this letter can’t have been too essential, otherwise it would have been missed. Trust it to turn up 51 years after being posted!"