In the tradition of chocolate Easter eggs whose owners never reached out to finish them, Sybil Cooke’s masquerade beats anything.
In the then nine-year-old’s case, it was Hitler’s impending invasion of Poland and the start of World War II that interrupted his enjoyment of treatment.
But after remaining untouched for 84 years, now this egg is going to be sold at auction.
The cook’s daughter, Gil Boulter, 61, said: “With war looming, her uncle said: ‘You be careful with this, my girl, there can be no chocolate soon.’
“She asked him to give her ration. Amazingly, she was so disciplined and respectful of her elders that she never ate a morsel.
Sybil Cooke in 1939. Photograph: Hanson’s Auctioneers / PA
Cook cherished the treat during the war years and never opened it for the rest of his life. He died in 2021 at the age of 91.
The “Mary Mary Quite the Contrary” egg still has its blue and white paper, complete with a watering can depicting a little girl’s ornamental garden scene.
One box in which it is still has the owner’s name, written in pencil, and the year 1939. It will be sold on 18 May by Derbyshire-based Hanson Auctioneers with a guide price of between £600 and £800.
Boulter, a director of a hospitality company in North Rise, Cardiff, recalled how his mother “loved life and chocolate” and said she must have been just nine when her uncle gave her an egg as a gift in 1939. Had given.
“When we asked the mother how she managed to preserve the eggs for such a long time, she told us that after keeping the eggs during the whole war, it did not feel right to eat them,” he continued.
“When she was little she scratched off a little bit of paper on the front, just to see that there was chocolate on the back.”
Having kept it safe during his childhood, Boulter said his mother took the egg with her when she left home to marry in 1955, and for 60 years it sat on a shelf in her bedroom in the town of Neath, Wales. Was kept on ,
“It would be wonderful if the egg goes to the museum along with the wartime memories of the mother,” Boulter said.
Charles Hanson, owner of Hanson Auctioneers, said the story was reminiscent of wartime austerity, respectful obedience “and a little girl who was so strict with herself that she would not allow herself even the tiniest part of her favorite treat”.
He said: “The Sybil’s Egg is a reminder of those hard days. She came from a generation that understood hardships. He learned to cherish and appreciate the little things. That’s a great character trait.”
