However, what exactly that was remains unclear. According to Henry Darby, the society’s communication manager, the note might refer to a pair of shoes.
Tracy Coleman, a researcher at the Royal Philatelic Society London, found that the postcard appears to be consistent with others from 1903, although she could not confirm it definitively.
“It looks to be a standard stamp with markings of that period, and there doesn’t seem to be anything unusual about it. It is the sort of postcard that anyone can find many examples of at a stamp fair or even in charity shops,” Coleman said.
So, how did the postcard end up back in the mail? Darby believes someone may have purchased the card at an estate sale and decided to drop it in a mailbox to see what would happen. Officials at the Royal Mail, the U.K.’s postal service, agreed with the theory.
Further research has discovered that a man named John F. Davies once lived at 11 Craddock Street with his wife and six children.
Lydia was the oldest of the kids, and she would’ve been 16 years old at the time the postcard was sent.
During World War II, their neighborhood was bombed. Many structures were rebuilt after the war, including 11 Craddock Street.
It is unclear whether Lydia actually received the postcard in 1903. So far, the researchers have come into contact with a woman who may be Lydia’s grand-niece. Hopefully, the letter will soon be left in the hands of one of her relatives.
