1930s love letters uncovered in Vancouver home returned to family

1930s love letters uncovered in Vancouver home returned to family

From across the Pond in Canada comes this poignant story, once again featuring the surprisingly common instance of old documents - in this case letters from over 80 years ago - being found during a building renovation and nearly thrown away before being rescued by an understanding individual.

Unlike most other long-lost photographic rediscoveries I've blogged about in the past this one has a much more personal angle, being as these were love letters written by courting couple between 1938 and 1940 and as such they go far beyond any socio-historical aspect.  As the chap who found them rightly asserts, they were an important part of two people's lives - so much so, in fact, that the man Len was moved to keep them in what was undoubtedly felt to be (and as events proved to be) a safe place.  I find this to be a particularly moving part of the story, in that to my mind he obviously believed that they might one day be found by a subsequent family member living in the house.

source - Twitter @AshleyBurr_

For whatever reason, however, this was not to be quite the case and it was only thanks to the good sense of the builder who unearthed them that these touching letters were saved from oblivion.  What is perhaps even more remarkable is Mr Trampus's perseverance in attempting to track down the relatives of Mim and Len, seeing as the original discovery took place nearly fifteen years ago!  His patience ultimately paid off last month, though, and here again we see the positive benefits of social media and how it can work to the advantage of times past as well as the present; for it was through a Facebook group that he was finally able to locate the couple's daughter and reunite her with her parents' letters.  So in a roundabout way Len's intention came to pass in that his letters eventually made it in to his family's possession, although no doubt not in the way he would have expected!

One can clearly see from the accompanying video just how much this means to Mrs Pennell and I am so glad that she has been given this opportunity to reconnect with her parents even in this small way, 30 years after they passed.  I am equally pleased that there are people out there like Dario Trampus who recognise the importance of documents like these and appreciate them enough to hold on to them for over 10 years as they try to reunite them with their rightful owners and I feel sure this will not be the last time I feature a post like this on Eclectic Ephemera.

At peace... and quiet

Evenin' all, and apologies for the two weeks of radio silence. I'm well aware I promised a post a week at the least and I must admit I'm beginning to get a bit frustrated that I can't find the time to write something at the weekend.  However I am but one man and there are only so many hours in the day; hopefully things will start to fall into place and a posting pattern will start to work out before too long.  Of course, it helps if I have interesting news of a vintage flavour to blog about...

Speaking of starting work my endeavours in that department continue to go well, much to my delight after so many years of health and employment struggles.  The downside, of course, is that I get to spend less here and on other blogs but this new place has a very generous IT policy so once I've settled right down and got my six months "probation" behind me you might even find the odd post appearing at lunchtime(!).

I had planned to do a post around about my birthday on the 19th August featuring the usual present haul and jollity but sadly this wasn't to be.  Presents (and, indeed, my birthday itself really) became the last thing on my mind because heartbreakingly my grandmother - my last surviving grandparent, an ever-present part of all the family's lives for generations and the last direct link to an era I find so enthralling - passed away peacefully in hospital on the 21st at the age of 87 after gamely fighting for three weeks against pneumonia (not to mention a litany of other ailments built up over the years), as stoically as she had always done against adversity throughout her life.  So you can imagine we as a family were preoccupied with that over anything else.  I hope to do a proper commemorative post about Nan in the near future, since she was a young woman in the 1940s & '50s; there are pictures of her in those times that I had never seen before that I know many of you will appreciate and that I'd like to show you.  Here's a taster (badly copied here I'm afraid, a scan of a scan but it will appear again better later on):

I hope to return to happier things with the publication of the next couple of posts, which should feature certain aspects of belated and potential birthday presents.  Not to mention a celebration of my Nan's [early] life in 1940s London.

Thanks for sticking with me here at Eclectic Ephemera during this transitional period and rest assured, I'm going nowhere and still enjoying reading all your blogs!

Cards and a "Crash" of a birthday

Today was my 29th birthday, which means that my "roaring twenties" are drawing to a close (and, incidentally, that has already given me the idea for next year's theme when I plan to do a "Twenties to Thirties" party and so celebrate my two favourite decades of the 20th century too).

I'd love to be able to show you some presents but the truth is being that it fell on a Sunday this year my 29th was marked very quietly (I'd also been to a friend's wedding the day before, so the whole weekend has been a kind of double celebration) and as such I, um... haven't got anything yet(!).  Keep watching this space and some birthday gifts might start appearing later in the week.

A good sport!

In the meantime I can show you some cards from this (and past) birthday(s) that are notable for celebrating and encouraging not only birthdays but also individualism and gentlemanly qualities - something I seem to have noticed appearing on cards recently.  The wider availability of cards with such sentiments can only be a good thing, and I welcome them.

It's nice to know that in these times of e-cards and online stationers the traditional birthday card is still alive and well, with many a beautiful design and kind word to be found.  Even the younger (read: modern) members of the family know me well, with a classic car and old English pub on a sunny day just another example of a delightful, apposite subject matter - this one from my teenage niece. 

And for funny uncles everywhere, know that the tradition of being the "silly Uncle ..." is still upheld and that no matter how little the nieces or nephews may be they've got you just as well pegged as the rest of the family has, as this card from my other nieces goes to prove(!).  It's actually a few years old now but I still smile at it (and I know the sentiment still holds true, and after all I haven't changed!) and put it up every year.

In what may turn out to be more of a "birthday week" for me I hope to be back with some presents (and more cards) from more family meetings and outings, as well as the usual mix of vintage-inspired stories from around the world.  Speaking of "around the world" the next one's an absolutely top-hole item, which I hope to bring to you in the next couple of days.