Friday, December 23, 2011
Oldest Letter to Santa: 100-year-old 'Dear Santa' Letter sets world record
DUBLIN, Ireland -- 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, according to World Record Academy (www.worldrecordacademy.com).
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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.
Related world records:
Longest letter to Santa Claus: Romanian Post
Largest Christmas tree made of plastic bottles: Kaunas (Video)
Largest group of carol singers: UK singers sets world record (Video)
Largest Secret Santa: ITV sets world record (Video)
Largest outdoor Christmas lights display: David Richards
Most people in a nativity scene: Welton Baptist Church
Most people dressed up as turkeys: Dallas Turkey Trot (Video)
Smallest Christmas card: University of Glasgow set world record
Most Santas surfing at the same time: Surfing Santas set world record
Largest Christmas lights decoration: Sun Plaza set world record
Tallest Chocolate Christmas Tree: Patrick Roger
Oldest Christmas tree: 124 year old tree
Most expensively dressed Christmas tree: Emirates Palace
Most Nativity scenes on display: South Florida church
Most Santa hat wearers in one place - Brockton
Largest Group of Carol singers - Credit Union Christmas Pageant
Most
Santa Claus images on sand - Sudarshan Pattnaik
Most
Scuba Diving Santas - Yorkshire Divers Group
Largest
Revolving Christmas Star - Siemens Superstar
Largest
gathering of Santa's Elves - ABC Family
Tallest
living Christmas tree - Coeur d'Alene
Largest
Floating Christmas Tree - Rio de Janeiro
Tallest
artificial Christmas tree - Mexico City
Smallest
'snowman' - National Physics Laboratory
Most
Santas skating in a Conga Line - Warwick Castle
Most
expensive Christmas bauble - Hallmark Jewellers
Biggest
fireworks show on the barge - Fireworks do Brasil
Biggest
New Year Party - Rio de Janeiro
Largest
Santa Claus ice sculpture - Chinese sculptors
Tallest
sand sculpture of Santa Claus - Sudarsan
Patnaik
Largest
winter footwear - Tsar-Valenok
Longest
letter to Santa Claus - Romanian Post
Tallest
snowman - Bethel residents
Longest
time spent inside an inflatable snowglobe - Ben Eckerson
Largest
collection of Santa Claus memorabilia - Jean Guy Laquerre
Largest
champagne glass
- Vini
nel Mondo
Most
Expensive Champagne - Perrier-Jouet
Largest Christmas cake - Uday Samudra hotel
Largest Gathering Of Santa Clauses - Porto
Most number of Santas zip sliding - Hallam FM
Largest
Secret Santa exchange - Boots
Friday, December 23, 2011
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