By IANS,
Lawrence (US) : A letter sent 60 years ago detailing the mood of the people after Harry S. Truman was elected US president has recently turned up in the mailbox of a Lawrence resident in the Midwestern US state of Kansas.
Xan Wedel opened her mailbox Friday and found the letter postmarked Nov 11, 1948 and the envelope being stamped “Return to sender” and “Found in supposedly empty equipment”, the Lawrence Journal-World has reported.
The letter was sent by Gertrude Gilmore, who lived there at the time, and was addressed to a person named Sally in Connecticut. But the letter never reached the destination.
The letter mentions: “All Lawrence is in mourning since the election,” in which Truman, a Democrat, beat Republican Thomas E. Dewey to become the president of the US.
“Just a fascinating glimpse of Lawrence at that time,” Wedel said imagining what could be the mood of the people during that election period.
Speaking about the rare incident, Lawrence Postmaster Judy Raney said: “It’s impossible to really know what may or may not have happened. No matter what, we always take it and go ahead and send it on.”
“And it’s not exactly a regular occurrence to have historical missives arrive in mailboxes.”
Wedel said she would preserve this piece of history. She photographed the envelope and four-page letter and scanned them into her computer.
“It would be really interesting to see if they are still in town or have any descendants that would know the history behind her and who she was writing,” she said.