Message In A Bottle

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

This news story made me remember making a message in a bottle and throwing it into the ocean. I was a kid and I remember being so excited. I never heard back and I forgot about it over time and never thought of it again until I saw this news report.

This is such a cute story, the source is BBC News but the link would not be allowed.

Did anyone else ever make a message in a bottle and throw it into the ocean? This is the story of the oldest one found.

Oldest Message In A Bottle Found On Australia Beach

A Perth family has found the world's oldest known message in a bottle, almost 132 years after it was thrown into the sea, Australian experts say.

Tonya Illman picked up the bottle while going for a walk around sand dunes on a remote beach in West Australia.

... they found some paper in the bottle but had "no idea" what it was until they took it home and dried it in the oven.

Experts have confirmed it is an authentic message from a German ship.

The note in the bottle, which was dated 12 June 1886, was jettisoned from the German ship Paula, as part of an experiment into ocean and shipping routes by the German Naval Observatory.

The Illman family were driving through a beach north of Wedge Island on 21 January when the car became bogged down in the sand, and Mrs Illman and her friend decided to go for a walk.

"Tonya saw a whole lot of rubbish on the ground, and thought she'd help pick up some rubbish," Mr Illman told the BBC. She found and picked up the bottle, thinking it would be nice for her bookshelf, he added.

"Tonya tried to untie the string around the paper, but it was rather fragile, so we took it home and put it in the oven for five minutes to dry up the moisture.

"Then we unrolled it and saw printed writing. We could not see the hand written ink at that point, but saw a printed message that asked the reader to contact the German consulate when they found the note."

Later, they also noticed faint handwriting on the note, with a date of 12 June 1886 and the name of the ship, Paula.

When they saw the date they thought it was "too far-fetched" to be real, Mr Illman said - but they researched the bottle online and took it to experts at the Western Australian Museum.

Incredibly, an archival search in Germany found Paula's original Meteorological Journal and there was an entry for 12 June 1886 made by the captain, recording a drift bottle having been thrown overboard. The date and the coordinates correspond exactly with those on the bottle message," Dr Anderson said.

Puppy Lips · ‎05-09-2010

Wow! I wonder who gets to keep it or if the finders will sell it.

I have never put a message in a bottle, but I loved the movie. Kevin Costner is one of my favorite actors.

Always remember that you are absolutely unique. Just like everyone else. Margaret Mead

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@Puppy Lipswrote:
Wow! I wonder who gets to keep it or if the finders will sell it.

I have never put a message in a bottle, but I loved the movie. Kevin Costner is one of my favorite actors.

I wonder that, also @Puppy Lips I love that the reason she picked it up was because she thought it would look nice on her shelf. I used to love walking beaches to see what had washed up. Old bottle can be beautiful.

puttypiesmom · ‎10-11-2017

I desire more information but unfortunately everything I've read online is not the same.

Also, I googled all the ships and the list included all from each country and no such SMS Paula showed up but an SMS Olga did.

In the mid 1880's the SMS Olga and a US ship as well were interfering in the civil war of Samoa at the time. Places it there around 1886.

When Germany became hostile to the United Kingdom I think the bottle had it been found would have been thrown away in disgust. But that would have been unlikely because Western Australia was sparsely populated back then.

We don't know when the bottle made landfall, just when it was picked up by a passerby.

Marp · ‎03-09-2010

@Noel7wrote:
This news story made me remember making a message in a bottle and throwing it into the ocean. I was a kid and I remember being so excited. I never heard back and I forgot about it over time and never thought of it again until I saw this news report.

This is such a cute story, the source is BBC News but the link would not be allowed.

Did anyone else ever make a message in a bottle and throw it into the ocean? This is the story of the oldest one found.

Oldest Message In A Bottle Found On Australia Beach

A Perth family has found the world's oldest known message in a bottle, almost 132 years after it was thrown into the sea, Australian experts say.

Tonya Illman picked up the bottle while going for a walk around sand dunes on a remote beach in West Australia.

... they found some paper in the bottle but had "no idea" what it was until they took it home and dried it in the oven.

Experts have confirmed it is an authentic message from a German ship.
The note in the bottle, which was dated 12 June 1886, was jettisoned from the German ship Paula, as part of an experiment into ocean and shipping routes by the German Naval Observatory.

The Illman family were driving through a beach north of Wedge Island on 21 January when the car became bogged down in the sand, and Mrs Illman and her friend decided to go for a walk.

"Tonya saw a whole lot of rubbish on the ground, and thought she'd help pick up some rubbish," Mr Illman told the BBC. She found and picked up the bottle, thinking it would be nice for her bookshelf, he added.

"Tonya tried to untie the string around the paper, but it was rather fragile, so we took it home and put it in the oven for five minutes to dry up the moisture.

"Then we unrolled it and saw printed writing. We could not see the hand written ink at that point, but saw a printed message that asked the reader to contact the German consulate when they found the note."

Later, they also noticed faint handwriting on the note, with a date of 12 June 1886 and the name of the ship, Paula.

When they saw the date they thought it was "too far-fetched" to be real, Mr Illman said - but they researched the bottle online and took it to experts at the Western Australian Museum.

Incredibly, an archival search in Germany found Paula's original Meteorological Journal and there was an entry for 12 June 1886 made by the captain, recording a drift bottle having been thrown overboard. The date and the coordinates correspond exactly with those on the bottle message," Dr Anderson said.

Patience @Noel7, based on the above your wait isn't even in the running lol.

What is good for the goose today will also be good for the gander tomorrow.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@Marp

BirkiLady · ‎02-22-2015

@Noel7Our family had a second home on an island (now a Township known as Long Island) off Portland, Maine). My grandfather and his brother built the home knowing the US was close to war and both were about to propose to their future wives. They wanted a safe place for their wives to live during what became WWI while they were gone. My grandmother and Aunt did live in that three bedroom home throughout WWI after marrying my grandfather and his brother! The home remained in our family until the late 1990's. It simply became too expensive to have it opened and closed for vacations, to maintain it, taxes, insurance, etc. When my health issues forced me to go on Disability, I simply wasn't able to afford it; nor was I able to travel each summer. My sister hadn't been to Maine since a teenager. My son was grown and very successful, but not married at the time. Just no interest in vacationing on the Island. Painful, but it was time to sell.

Anyway, my sister and I would write letters or poems (including our home address in Nebraska) and mom would make sure the bottles were tightly sealed with a cork stopper. We would hurl them into the Atlantic Ocean with all the gusto we could muster! In all the decades of going to the Island, I never heard back from anyone. My son also threw a bottle each summer . . . never received a response. Those summers on the Island remain in our memories, but how we would have loved to have had someone find one of our bottles and respond!

Money screams; wealth whispers.

Noel7 · ‎03-09-2010

@BirkiLadywrote:
@Noel7Our family had a second home on an island (now a Township known as Long Island) off Portland, Maine). My grandfather and his brother built the home knowing the US was close to war and both were about to propose to their future wives. They wanted a safe place for their wives to live during what became WWI while they were gone. My grandmother and Aunt did live in that three bedroom home throughout WWI after marrying my grandfather and his brother! The home remained in our family until the late 1990's. It simply became too expensive to have it opened and closed for vacations, to maintain it, taxes, insurance, etc. When my health issues forced me to go on Disability, I simply wasn't able to afford it; nor was I able to travel each summer. My sister hadn't been to Maine since a teenager. My son was grown and very successful, but not married at the time. Just no interest in vacationing on the Island. Painful, but it was time to sell.

Anyway, my sister and I would write letters or poems (including our home address in Nebraska) and mom would make sure the bottles were tightly sealed with a cork stopper. We would hurl them into the Atlantic Ocean with all the gusto we could muster! In all the decades of going to the Island, I never heard back from anyone. My son also threw a bottle each summer . . . never received a response either. Those summers on the Island remain in our memories, but how we would have loved to have had someone find one of our bottles and respond!

What a wonderful story @BirkiLady ! You are a powerful writer and made your story come alive. Thank you, I enjoyed it very much

I was happy to see the BBC article this morning. There was pleasure in making the bottles and tossing them as far as we could. I wonder if kids still do that? I'm glad you responded here.

BirkiLady · ‎02-22-2015

@Noel7Thank you, Noel. My mom was a journalist, an editor, and Director of Publications. She loved history and the written word. I speak English and French fluently and have traveled in all areas of Europe; my sister speaks English and Spanish and prefers to travel in South America (and was also a journalist). Grammar, writing and a love of reading is a favorite in our families. Cannot think of a better legacy for mom to have left us!

Money screams; wealth whispers.