100-Year-Old Letter to Santa Found Stuck in Chimney

Santa's error makes for a charming Christmas tale one hundred years later.

  • Share
  • Read Later
Stockbyte/ Getty Images

Turns out that Jolly Old Saint Nick missed a chimney over a hundred years ago and now his slightly singed secret is out. A letter to Santa written by two young children a hundred years ago was discovered in a Dublin fireplace and is now being shown to the public for the first time. Seems Santa has a little ‘splaining to do.

According to an article in the Irish Times, the century-old Dear Santa letter was discovered by the house’s current occupant when he was installing central heating in 1992. The owner has held on to the letter ever since as a charming curiosity of an earlier time when children wanted “a baby doll… a pair of gloves and a toffee apple” instead of, say, diamonds and gowns. (Suri Cruise, we’re looking at you.)

(MORE: Top 10 Bad Santas)

While the letter is scorched, it is remarkably intact for its age and the location in which it was discovered. Penned on Christmas Eve in 1911 in Dublin, the letter is signed by “A or H Howard.” Along with their Christmas wishes, the children thoughtfully included illustrations and a wish of good luck.

The Irish Times reports:

According to the 1911 census there were three children living at the address in the year in which the letter was written. 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. A third child, a 13-year-old called Lily, is also listed.

No word on whether Hannah, Fred, and Lily received their chosen Christmas presents, but as the letter never quite made it to the North Pole it seems unlikely. Santa really slipped up on this one. Let’s all track him on NORAD and give him a piece of our minds, eh?

MORE: A Brief History of the Ugly Christmas Sweater