Time Traveling Postcard Finds its Way Back Home

One June morning, Berkeley resident Jennifer Frisch found a postcard in her mailbox. It had come from the American Museum of Natural History in New York. On the front was a Jurassic scene with a couple of dinosaurs, and on the back was a note: "They chased us three miles but we were saved by a band of Indians." It was signed simply, "Dad". 

Then Frisch noticed the postmark, which was stamped June 12, 1963. The 4-cent stamp was of Swedish diplomat and author Dag Hammarskjold, who died in 1961 — the same year Frisch was born. This postcard had come a long way, and taken 48 years to arrive at its Berkeley destination.

But how would it find its intended recipient, Roy David Wood?

Fortunately, Frisch recognized the surname on the card.

"They were the family that owned the house before me," said Frisch, who has lived on San Antonio Avenue for 15 years.

"I decided to 'Google' the last name and came across a gentleman in San Francisco — Allen Wood," said Frisch. She left him a voice-mail message, and he called back. 

"I believe he was two years old in 1963," said Frisch. "The postcard was addressed to his father, and it was from his grandfather. I scanned the card and emailed it to Allen on June 12... exactly 48 years late."

Wood was happy to receive such an unexpected message from his grandfather. "Forty-eight years is a long delivery time!" said Wood. In return, he sent Frisch old pictures of her house from the '60s. She sent him back some recent ones, along with the dinosaur postcard mailed in 1963. 

"I mailed the original card back to him," said Frisch. "I know, I know... mail? But really, I figured, what were the chances of it getting lost again?"