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It's a great story, but it ain't necessarily so: After 40, 50 or 60 years, a long-lost letter finally
arrives at its destination. But — was it really lost in the Postal Twilight Zone? Linn's Stamp News
editor Rob Haeseler says there's probably a simpler explanation.


"Somebody found an old letter and dropped it back into the mailstream." RUNS :05


Stamp collectors sometimes also collect old envelopes and mail.


"They come out of people's attics and closets. As elderly people die, these things are handed down to
their heirs or are disposed of." RUNS :09


It may be the work of a well-meaning good Samaritan or a prankster, but —


"They make good newspaper stories." RUNS :02


And then the local postal people say they can't imagine how it happened and apologize.


"They probably should apologize because they're showing their ignorance and spending their time and
money re-delivering something once every 50 years." RUNS :10


It's not even a new phenomenon, says Haeseler.


"I stumbled on an item written in 1932 by A.C. Roessler, a famous stamp dealer, where he talked about
the exact same thing happening back then." RUNS :09


Some of these long-lost letters probably really were stuck in a mail chute or behind a piece of
machinery....but not all.


I'm Lloyd de Vries

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