Postcard Sent From U.N. Finally Delivered After 72 Years

A postcard mailed from the United Nations in 1953 has finally reached its sender; 72 years later, the New York Times reported Sunday.

Alan Ball, now 88, sent the card to his family during his first trip away from Illinois. He bought it at the U.N. headquarters in New York while en route to Puerto Rico, where he planned to spend the summer with relatives. The 2-cent postcard described the U.N. as “extremely modern throughout” and promised, “Will write next from P.R.”

The message never arrived at his Ottawa, Ill., home, until last week, when a letter carrier delivered it to Ball in Sandpoint, Idaho, where he has lived for decades.

“That 2 cents did a lot of work,” Ball said, laughing. “Who gets their mail returned after 72 years?”

Postal officials believe the postcard was misplaced inside the U.N. for most of those years before surfacing at an Illinois post office. Local genealogists tracked Ball down more than 1,700 miles away.

Ball, a retired emergency room doctor, now plans to frame the card as a keepsake from his long-ago adventure.