A piece of royal souvenir chocolate from 1935 has been found under a woman’s bed 88 years after her father told her not to eat it.
Vera Petchell, from Boston, Leeds, was given chocolates to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary when she was just eight.
But she never ate them because her father told her they might be worth something one day and kept the souvenir for 82 years – until six years ago when she thought she had lost them at the age of 90.
Mrs Petchell died aged 95 in November last year and her children discovered the missing sweet while cleaning out her home in Beeston, Leeds.
The chocolate was found hidden inside a coffee tin at the back of a drawer under Vera’s bed and could now fetch hundreds of pounds at auction.
A piece of royal souvenir chocolate (pictured) from 1935 has been found under a woman’s bed 88 years after her father told her not to eat it.
The chocolate was found hidden inside a coffee tin (pictured) at the back of a drawer under Vera’s bed and could now fetch hundreds of pounds at auction
Vera Petchell (pictured as a child) was given chocolates to commemorate the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary when she was just eight years old.
Mrs Petchell died aged 95 in November last year and her children discovered the missing sweet while cleaning out her home in Beeston, Leeds.
Nadine McCafferty, 71, from Beeston, one of Vera’s four children, said: “Mum was upset when she lost the chocolates. She made us hunt hard for them. We looked everywhere.
“They were in a drawer in her bedroom but we couldn’t find them. She thought we had accidentally thrown them out.’
Ms McCafferty said she found the chocolate in a coffee tin when she was cleaning out her mother’s house after she died in November last year. She said she was confused when she found the box hidden in the tin because the chocolate was never there.
“It’s a shame mum didn’t know we found them,” she said. “She spent the last years of her life wondering where they would end up.
“She kept them safe forever. Her father told her not to eat them because one day they might be worth something.’
And Mrs Petchell’s father’s advice now appears to be right, because The Rowntree & Co Ltd chocolates are now expected to fetch £100-200 at auction.
Ms McCafferty said that knowing how much the chocolates meant to her mother, she and her siblings decided to auction them off to save them because the box cannot actually be divided into four.
Cardiographer Mrs Petchell was born in September 1927 and in 1935 all the children were given chocolates to mark the Silver Jubilee.
“The gift was organized by the then mayor of Leeds, William Hemingway,” added Ms McCafferty.
“Mom always did what her dad told her to do. She was a wonderful character and enjoyed a good life.’
Mrs. Petchell had four children, seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren.
The chocolates will go under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers, in Etwall, Derbyshire, between October 19 and 24.
Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, said: ‘What a relief those chocolates have been found and are here to honor Vera’s memory. I can imagine her horror at the thought of losing them after saving them for over 80 years.
But this story is destined to have a happy ending. This discovery has sparked memories of a wonderful Yorkshire woman, old-school discipline and a child’s respect for her father.’
Mrs Petchell’s father’s advice now appears to be correct as The Rowntree & Co Ltd chocolates (pictured) are now expected to fetch £100-200 at auction.
In 1935, all children were given chocolates to mark the Silver Jubilee of King George V and Queen Mary.
Mrs Petchell (pictured as a teenager) had four children, seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren
Ms McCafferty said she found the chocolate in a coffee tin (pictured) when cleaning out her mother’s house after she died in November last year. She said she was confused to find it hidden in the tin as the chocolate was never there.
Hanson added: “It must have been hard for Vera not to have a bite of chocolate, but in those days a gift like this was so special it was treated like a treasure.
“No doubt Vera looked in from time to time, just to see that her chocolates were still there. We’re not sure when he put them inside Thorne’s tin, but it would have helped preserve them during the hot summer.’
He said that since the Rowntree chocolates were in tins, they are in good condition despite being more than a century ago.
Rowntree’s was founded in 1862 in Castlegate, York, by Henry Isaac Rowntree, a Quaker.
In 1881, Rowntree introduced Fruit Pastilles and the product proved to be a huge success, accounting for about 25 percent of the company’s tonnage by 1887.
Around 1898, the company acquired its own cocoa plantations in the West Indies, and in 1899, Rowntree introduced its first block of milk chocolate.
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