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    • World’s Oldest Message in a Bottle is 135 Years Old
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    • 108 Year Old Message in a Bottle is Fourth Oldest
    • 107 Year Old Message in a Bottle is Fifth Oldest
    • 101 Year Old Message in a Bottle is Sixth Oldest
    • 98 Year Old Message in a Bottle is Seventh Oldest
    • 88 Year Old Message in a Bottle is Eighth Oldest
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Category Archives: history

Maud Butler, Fearless Stowaway, Noted in Christmas 1915 Messages in Bottles

08 Thursday Dec 2022

Posted by Clint Buffington | Message in a Bottle Hunter in history, message in a bottle

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Australia, Christmas, Maud Butler, message in a bottle, New South Wales, Reginald Lock, SS Suveic, Ted Blakey, WWI

The Strange Tale of Three 1915 Messages in Bottles & Stowaway Maud Butler

On New Year’s Day, 1916, three messages in bottles washed ashore right beside each other near Portland Bay, Victoria, Australia. Three! And one man (Maurice J. Leddin) found this pile of treasure. All were written by Australian soldiers from New South Wales, en route to WWI. All were written on Christmas Day, 1915. A couple of them told a curious story about a young woman on board their ship–a stowaway. This young woman was Maud Butler, a country girl who tried to sneak into the Great War. Maud Butler became famous for her attempt to fight for Australia in WWI. But before any of that fame arrived, soldiers wrote about her in these soon-to-be-found messages in bottles.

As details emerged, Butler’s amazing story inspired many at the time (though she really did get in deep trouble for stowing away). Maud Butler fascinated me the moment I learned her story – and I only learned it thanks to the messages in bottles in this post. There’s much more to Maud Butler’s story than I can fit here, as you can read on the Australian War Memorial’s page about her. But I just want to share a bit here to show how messages in bottles have a truly unique ability to provide windows into history, and into other peoples’ lives.

Message in a Bottle Tells of “Girl On Board Dressed As A Soldier”

The Koroit Sentinel and Tower Hill Advocate printed a story on January 22nd, 1916, about the three messages in bottles found together on New Year’s Day of that year by a Maurice J. Leddin. The soldiers had dropped them overboard on Christmas Day of 1915.

Vintage news article about Ted Blakey, who wrote a message in a bottle mentioning the famous stowaway Maud Butler. Ted Blakey survived the war.

Vintage news article about Ted Blakey, who mentioned Maud Butler in his message in a bottle (though not by name).

The whole thing is crazy! Can you imagine finding three messages in bottles washed up beside each other? Madness! And this particular message in a bottle mentions Maud Butler, though not by name. She was trying to get to Gallipoli to fight alongside her brother.

These messages in bottles about Maud Butler join the ranks of several other famous and fascinating messages in bottles concerning Australia. There’s the incredible story of Thomas Hughes’ message in a bottle, found ages after he sent it–also en route to WWI–and returned to his elderly granddaughter. Then there’s the second oldest message in a bottle ever found, which, at almost 132 years of age, was discovered in Australia’s coastal sand dunes. There’s even an incredible tale of a message in a bottle making its way to Australia’s second prime minister, Alfred Deakin. When it comes to messages in bottles, Australia doesn’t mess around!

These messages also join the exclusive club of extremely interesting messages in bottles sent on Christmas Day, alongside the likes of Frank Hayostek’s WWII message in a bottle, which he sent on Christmas Day of 1945. Continue reading →

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Frank Hayostek’s Christmas 1945 Message in a Bottle: Love, Letters, and WWII

18 Saturday Nov 2017

Posted by Clint Buffington | Message in a Bottle Hunter in history, message in a bottle, Romance

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Frank Hayostek, love, message in a bottle, romance, World War II, WWII

Christmas 1945: A Lonely Soldier and a Letter in a Bottle

Frank Hayostek and Breda O’Sullivan captured the hearts of millions in the somber but celebratory days after World War II. How? Simply, a message in a bottle, sent by Frank at the end of WWII.

Frank With Big Aspirin Bottle

Here’s Frank Hayostek, stuffing a note into an Aspirin bottle, like he did on Christmas night, 1945.

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Amelia Earhart Search Leads to Messages in Bottles and Chance Friendships

09 Thursday Nov 2017

Posted by Clint Buffington | Message in a Bottle Hunter in history, message in a bottle

≈ 4 Comments

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Amelia Earhart, Inspiration, message in a bottle

The Search for Amelia Earhart

This is the story of how the search for Amelia Earhart led one man to discover a decades-old message in a bottle, and how, inspired by the find, his colleague sent a message of his own, and received a response. Did you catch all that? There will be a quiz 🙂

Here’s the story straight from the TIGHAR’s mouth, so to speak. Kenton Spading, Amelia Earhart researcher, wrote me to explain how this all happened:

“I have been researching the mystery surrounding the July 1937 disappearance of Amelia Earhart since 1992 through my membership in The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery (TIGHAR). TIGHAR approaches the Earhart/Noonan mystery through the application of the scientific method. In that light TIGHAR’s Nikumaroro (Niku) Hypothesis proposes that Earhart/Noonan landed on Gardner Island (now Niku).

Amelia Earhart Message in a Bottle: Nikumaroro

Nikumaroro is a tiny island waaaay out in the Pacific Ocean where TIGHAR believes Amelia Earhart may have spent her final days.

Continue reading →

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90 Year Old Man Discovers 83 Year Old Message in a Bottle is From His Father

25 Tuesday Jul 2017

Posted by Clint Buffington | Message in a Bottle Hunter in history, message in a bottle, News

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Tags

Edinburgh, history, Living Memory Association, message in a bottle, News, Scotland, Time Capsule, Viewforth

83 Year Old Message in Bottle Discovered

Living in the world of messages in bottles, there’s a certain level of coincidence that comes with the job. That’s what makes it so cool 🙂 But occasionally something happens that knocks even my socks off! I mean, if the starting point is an 83 year old message in a bottle, you know the story is gonna be good…

Laurence Reid, an Edinburgh resident who recently turned 90, spent his working life as a joiner, constructing the wooden elements of buildings and the like. According to a story published by the Edinburgh Evening News, he recently decided to donate an old carpenter’s plane to the Living Memory Association, which is not exactly a museum, but an organization that nevertheless keeps the past alive.

While there, Laurence and LMA worker Miles Tubbs, struck up a conversation. I can’t imagine the conversation they had that led to this next moment–but somehow Miles got the idea to show Laurence an item the Living Memory Association had recently acquired–a message in a bottle.

Laurence Reid 83 Year Old Message in a Bottle

The message in a bottle at Living Memory Association. Photo: SWNS.com / Daily Mail

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The Lighthouse Keeper’s Tale: A Message in a Bottle Story

28 Wednesday Jun 2017

Posted by Clint Buffington | Message in a Bottle Hunter in Friendship, history, Love, message in a bottle, Romance

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

Lighthouse, message in a bottle, Penpal, St. Gilles Croix de Vie, Thacher Island

Hello, Lighthouse!

I would like to tell you a message in a bottle story that is equally heartwarming and heartbreaking. It all starts with a lighthouse on a lonely island, a devoted lighthouse keeper, and a New Year’s tradition. When I think of it now, it puts me in mind of one of my daughter’s favorite books, Hello, Lighthouse! by Sophie Blackall. Blackall’s book even notes the tradition of lighthouse keepers sending messages in bottles. Hello, Lighthouse! begins (with emphases provided by my daughter): “On the hiiiighest rock, of a tiiiiiny island, at the eeeedge of the world stands a lighthouse…”

Hello, Lighthouse book cover showing showing a lighthouse standing on a rock surrounded by ocean.

A Brief History of the Thacher Island Lighthouse(s)

Our story begins: On the hiiiighest rock, of a tiiiiny island, off the coast of Massachusetts, stands a lighthouse. This lighthouse stands on Thacher Island, a world unto itself.

 

Satellite view of Thacher Island

In the early days of America–when we were still colonies, actually–there were a great number of shipwrecks in the area. In fact, Thacher Island takes its name from a shipwreck survivor: Anthony Thacher. He and his wife Elizabeth were the lone survivors of an awful shipwreck in 1635. Dozens of others, including their five children, were swept away.

Shipwrecks continued around Thacher Island. This led to none other than John Hancock petitioning the provincial government to build lighthouses Thacher Island. The lighthouses fired up in 1771. According to the video below, these were the last lighthouses to be built in America by the British colonial government

In the following years of conflict, it appeared that the lighthouses were helping the British fleet navigate the area more than they were helping captains and colonists avoid wrecks. So, a company of minutemen headed to the island in 1775 where they destroyed the lights and brought the lighthouse keeper and his family back to the mainland. Eventually, the lighthouses were restored to operation and taken over by the new government of the United States. As the video above explains, George Washington directed Alexander Hamilton to appoint keepers for the nation’s lighthouses, and he did–including for Thacher Island.

Lighthouse Keepers Return to Thacher Island

According to the Thacher Island Association, “The present 123-foot granite towers were completed in 1861 raising the lights to 166 feet above sea level.” About a century later, in 1983, The Thacher Island Association took over care for the island. They restored the lighthouses and keepers’ homes, and began operating the lighthouses with the help of volunteers. This is where volunteer Lighthouse Keeper Ann Hernandez comes into the picture!

Thacher Island Association photo with lighthouse 1Thacher Island Association photo with lighthouse 2

A Message in a Bottle Tradition

According to The Boston Globe, “Each year on her birthday, Ann Hernandez and her boyfriend, Alan Tomaska, would settle on the rocky shore of Thacher Island and uncork a bottle of champagne in a toast to the day. When the bottle was empty and the tide going out, Hernandez would tuck a handwritten message inside and Tomaska would hurl the bottle over the rocks and into the crashing surf.”

Thacher Island with Lighthouses - Tim Pierce - Wikipedia

Thacher Island and its duel lighthouses. This is the rocky coast where Ann Hernandez sat with her partner on her birthday in 2003. They drank a bottle of champagne, then sent a message out in it.

I always wonder what makes someone send a message in a bottle. What do they hope for? Ann, for example. Did she want a penpal? Maybe she just wanted to see where it would end up? Maybe I read too much into these things, but I wonder: was there something in Ann that made her long for the outside world? For adventure beyond her own daily sphere? She already spent her summers tending the lighthouse on Thacher Island. Ann must have been an adventurous person.

Lighthouse Keeper’s Message in a Bottle, Found!

Six years after sending one of these bottles, a French couple found it washed ashore in their tiny village.

Ann Hernandez Message in a Bottle - The Lighthouse Keeper's Tale

Ann Hernandez’s Message in a Bottle. Photo: Michel and Daniele Onesime / Boston.com

When they looked for Ann, they found that she had passed away unexpectedly the year before they found her note. During her lifetime, according to Boston.com, only one of her bottles was found. It surfaced “in Marshfield, a place that Hernandez dismissed as not exotic enough to merit excitement.”

But according to her friends, “A quaint fishing village on the western coast of France…was just the sort of place where Hernandez would have loved to see her message in a bottle land.”

St_gilles.jpg

The French village where Ann’s bottle was found, St. Gilles Croix de Vie. Photo: Wikipedia user Splashview.

The French folks who found her bottled note felt the inexplicable power of messages in bottles to connect people. In fact, they befriended Ann’s friends and family! They hoped to visit Thacher Island and the lighthouse that was a home away from home for Ann.

In the meantime, the discovery of the note was a powerful reminder of Ann’s life for her friends and family. It’s the same with so many messages in bottles: Her friends and family must have believed they would never hear from Ann again. But then, all of a sudden, they did.

To me, that’s as close to magic as we can get.

For More on Messages in Bottles

Follow me on Instagram and Facebook where I post new stories, or sign up to receive new blog posts via email. Check out my digital message in a bottle museum for examples of real messages in bottles, see my list of the oldest messages in bottles, or read my analyses of messages in bottles in pop culture, from Taylor Swift to Sting & the Police and beyond!

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Incredible Message In A Bottle from 1967 Found Inside Concrete Slab in Australia

08 Monday May 2017

Posted by Clint Buffington | Message in a Bottle Hunter in Friendship, history, Joke, message in a bottle

≈ 10 Comments

Tags

Australia, Chad Parker, CSR Earthworks, Inspiration, message in a bottle, News, Queensland, Toowoomba

Incredible Message in a Bottle Recovered from Concrete Slab

When you hear message in a bottle, I bet you think ocean. I know I do. After all, the most famous message in a bottle stories revolve around the sea… But every know and then, a truly incredible message in a bottle turns up on dry land.

The Police Message in a Bottle Cover

A&M Records cover for The Police’s single, Message in a Bottle.

Continue reading →

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