There is something uniquely romantic about finding long-lost messages that were sent ages ago.
Message-in-the-bottle, a tryst with fate
The tradition of putting a message in a bottle and leaving it to the hands of fate (or water currents) is very romantic. Historically, this tradition dates back to 310 BC when a Greek philosopher named Theophrastus wanted to test his hypothesis that the Atlantic Ocean flows into the Mediterranean Sea. But often the bottles with messages are not only for educational purposes, the messages include random messages to strangers, rescue appeals, and even for the quest of finding one true love. Here are some of the most remarkable message-in-a-bottle stories ever told.
Imagine getting a message from a grandfather you never met.
A fisherman once pulled out a simple bottle with a message from the Baltic Sea which was almost 101 years old and became a way for a lady to know more about her grandfather she never met. Richard Platz tossed the bottle in the Baltic Sea when he went for a hike. He passed away in the year 1946. After much research and with a help of a genealogist, Konrad Fischer (the fisherman) found Platz’s granddaughter, Angela Erdmann. Interestingly, he even included two stamps in the bottle so that finder would have to bear the cost of sending the postcard. Little did he know that it would take almost 101 years for that postcard to find its way home.
When a message-in-a-bottle helps you find the love of your life
If you are a hopeless romantic like the writer of this story then we suggest that you try something similar to what a Swedish sailor named Ake Vikings did. Long before we found our soulmate on dating sites, in 1956, Ake Vikings send his love folded in a message saying “To Someone Beautiful and Faraway” corked in a bottle in hopes of finding his one true love. He left his love life entirely in the hands of fate. Just two years later, he received a message from a young Sicilian woman named Paolina who wrote back that she is not beautiful but this letter has travelled so far that she could not help but answer him. After this, they started communicating regularly which resulted in Viking moving to Sicily to marry the one true love that came to him by the hands of fate.
So, what do you think? Would like to leave a message-in-a-bottle and what would you write in it?
