In what are some calling a ‘Christmas miracle’ a piece of paper shoved up a chimney in Dublin intended for Santa Claus has survived for 100 years with barely a scorch mark on it.

On Christmas Eve, 1911 a brother and sister sat down to pen a letter to Jolly Ole St Nick. “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.”

The letter, signed “A or H Howard,” included wishes of ‘good luck’ and was adorned with various festive drawings and doodles. According to the 1911 census there were three children living at the address in the year in which the letter was written. According to the census data for 1911 there were three children living in the house at the time. The youngest of them, Hannah, who was 10 at the time, and Fred (presumably short for Alfred) who was seven, fit in with the initials on the letter.

It remained in the chimney throughout the decades (during which the home was sold several times) before the current owner discovered it while installing central air/heating in the home.

It’s not known if the Howard children received their presents that Christmas. Given that it so clearly never made it to the North Pole (and the economic problems of many Irish families at the time) the safe bet is no. And though the article doesn’t bother tracking them down it’s probably because it’s safe to say that they’re dead now.

Merry Christmas!

(Source: The Irish Times)