60-year-old postcard, found in 30-year-old hotel, delivered to addressee

GOSHEN, Ind. (WSBT/NNS) - When a postcard addressed to a woman in Goshen, Indiana was dropped in the mail, President Eisenhower was in the white house, and a gallon of gas was a quarter.

By no fault of the post office, the recipient of the card finally got it 60 years later.

Sharon Gongwer says she looks forward to getting mail at her retirement home in Goshen, Indiana, but a postcard from 1958 was something she wasn't expecting.

The postcard arrived last week and it hardly shows its age.

"It was written by my mother who was traveling. She was traveling and she lived in Indiana.  And as she was just traveling around and went to California," Gongwer explained. "On August 26, 1958. [The] postcard is in perfect condition. Maybe the edges are a little worn, but other than that."

An employee at a hotel in Goshen recently discovered it in the back of a filing cabinet.

Adding to the mystery is the hotel’s age. It’s only been around for about 30 years, so how the 60-year-old card ended up in their file cabinet is a bit of a mystery.

"How it got here we really don't know.  Either someone dropped it here, it got sent here by mistake. We have no idea. It's been here for a long time," hotel employee Allen Niswander said.

And even though it was addressed to Sharon's house in Wakarusa, they searched for Sharon and got the card to its rightful owner.

"You don't expect to find things like that.  Now had I been going through her things at home I wouldn't have been so shocked," Gongwer laughed.