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Extremely rare Victorian "bottle post" / message in a bottle postcards. These 2 postcards were sealed in a pickle jar, thrown in the English Channel off Devon Dec 16, 1899, and washed up at Silecroft Beach, Cumberland on Jan 22, 1900 after traveling "several hundred miles along the West coast."
The Story + Provenance:
This lot includes:
Postcard #1: Addressed to "Miss Jane Jackson, Cleveland Villa, Silecroft, Cumberland" with 1d Victoria red stamp, postmarked "DE 18 99"
Postcard #2: Addressed to "Master Willie Jackson, Cleveland Villa, Silecroft, Cumberland" with 1d Victoria red stamp, postmarked "JA 22 00"
Original Finder’s Explanation Card: Typed note documenting the find by R. Hoggarth, Silecroft, Jan 23 1900: "These cards found in a bottle on the shore at Silecroft by R. Hoggarth Jan 22nd 1900. They were enclosed in a pickle jar & thrown into the sea off Devon Dec 16th 1899..."
This is a documented event in UK postal history. Bottle mail was a novelty/romantic gesture in the 1800s, but surviving examples with provenance like this are very scarce.
Condition:
Both cards show normal age toning and light foxing consistent with 125+ years and sea exposure. Addresses and postmarks are fully legible. Stamps intact with clear cancels. The typed explanation card is on period paper and crucial to the provenance. Light edge wear on cards as photographed. See scans for exact condition - what you see is what you get.
