I was unpacking a parcel of envelopes today and found one of the Tin Can mail letters from 1937. The story goes that due to the inaccessibility of the steep sides of this volcanic island in Tonga, the locals would swim out to passing ships with mail in waterproofed tin cans. This became a tourist thing of which this letter is part of, during a voyage in 1937. Issues with sharks, then volcanic eruptions saw the whole thing closed down by the 1960's with enforced evictions leaving the island deserted. There were so many of these swimmed letters that this one might get $50.
No comments:
Post a Comment