Dated 1920, a Postcard Finally Gets Delivered

It’s not clear where the postcard has been during the intervening decades, or why it took so long to reach the address. Letters from years or decades past do sometimes turn up in people’s mailboxes, though a spokesman for the Postal Service said it was rarely because they became lost in the system.

“In most cases these incidents do not involve mail that had been lost in our network and later found,” said Tim Ratliff, the spokesman for the Postal Service for the Great Lakes area.

“What we typically find is that old letters and postcards — sometimes purchased at flea markets, antique shops and even online — are re-entered into our system,” he said.

Mr. Ratliff added, “as long as there is a deliverable address and postage, the card or letter gets delivered.”

Ms. Keech first shared her discovery in a Facebook group called “Positively Belding,” a page that celebrates positive news in the city of about 5,700 residents northeast of Grand Rapids. Members of the page said they were amazed by the discovery. At least one person joked that mail can’t be delivered in a timely manner.

Some members, trying to find out more about the McQueens to help Ms. Keech, have become sleuths. One person theorized that someone may have bought the old postcard at a store and simply “dropped it in the mail.”