A letter to Santa, written in 1911, was discovered by John Byrne while puttering about inside his home; penned by a pair of siblings (10-year-old Hannah and 7-year-old Fred), the letter miraculously survived inside a fireplace for 100 years - setting the world record for the Oldest Letter to Santa.
The Guinness world record for the Most expensive letter sold at auction was set by a letter written by George Washington in 1787 to his nephew Bushrod Washington, urging adoption of the country's new constitution.
It was sold for $3,200,000 at Christie's, New York, USA.
Guinness World Records also recognized the world record for the Most expensive franked letter, set by an 1847 letter to wine merchants in Bordeaux, franked with the 1d and 2d first issues of Mauritius, which was bought by an anonymous buyer in less than a minute for CHF6,123,750 ($4,075,165 / £2,811,639) at a sale conducted by Geneva-based auctioneer David Feldman (Ireland).
Victor Bartlem's mother, Hannah Howard, had written the Christmas wish list when she was just 10 years old.
It was first discovered in 1992 when the current house owner John Byrne installed central heating. He came upon Hannah's letter in the chimney and decided to keep it as a memento of times past.
"At that time, the fireplaces were made of brick with a shelf on either side," Byrne told the Irish Times. "The letter was found on one of the shelves."
On her Christmas list, Hannah wrote: "I want a baby doll and a waterproof with a hood and a pair of gloves and a toffee apple and a gold penny and a silver sixpence and a long toffee."
Hannah was born on Christmas Day 1900.
Mr Bartlem said his mother had been extremely creative, excelling at various forms of needlework and later at woodwork.
She was also an expert baker of cakes and other confectionery, which may go some way to explaining her toffee-themed letter to Mr Claus.
Mr Bartlem said his mother attended the Zion Church of Ireland in Raphoe and married Alfred Bartlem in 1931. She had two sons, Howard and Victor. She died in 1978. |
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Oldest Letter to Santa