Schoolgirl Predicts Videocalls In 1969 Letter Found Down Back Of Sofa

A letter written by a schoolgirl in 1969 has been found, which predicts the world of videocalls in which we now live.

Zoom calls have become a part of daily life for many of us, thanks to a combination of amazing technology and a terrible pandemic - but an anonymous student foresaw this more than 50 years ago. Well, the videocalls part anyway.

Upholsterer Peter Beckerton, from Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, found the letter down the back of a three-seat sofa.

SWNS

It is dated 23 February 1969 and has a number of corrections on it, indicating it was written as part of some kind of assignment (her spelling is less impressive than her future forecasting).

The letter opens with the line 'the year is 1980', and the prophetic section reads: "In 1969 the telephone was a square box thing with a resiver [sic] on top of it.

"But now it is still a resiver [sic], but you can see the people you are talking to, for there is a screen where you can see the people. It is a bit like a television."

OK, in predicting this would happen by 1980 she overestimated the speed of technological advancements, but she pretty much hit the nail on the head otherwise.

SWNS

The schoolgirl will now be about 62 (she indicated she was 11 at the time of writing), so there's a good chance she's in lockdown somewhere using the very technology she predicted as a child - whether she remembers writing the letter is another question altogether.

Peter's wife Rosa is hoping that with the letter being shared publicly, the author will be able to step forward and take credit.

She said: "When my husband showed it to me I couldn't believe it. I thought, 'Oh my god, look at this.'

"It was just so interesting, because looking at it today she's got a lot of her predictions kind of right - but in her childish innocent way she thought it would all happen in 10 years.

"It didn't have any name on it, unfortunately, but it was marked 'good' by the teacher, which I thought was nice.

"I just wanted to share it in the hopes that maybe the author might see it and recognise it.

"My husband has found all sorts of rubbish down the side of sofas and furniture before - but never anything as interesting as this."

SWNS

Let's not give this schoolgirl from the 60s too much credit though. Here's a section of her letter that was absolute nonsense: "My husband will be home from work, but I have no tea to prepare like we did in 1969.

"All we have is a piece of chewing gum to eat. You may think that we have not enough to eat but you are wrong, because this piece of chewing gum is food.

"You chew this gum and you can feel the food going down. You can also taste it. There is no messy washing-up to do afterwards."

It's 2021 and washing up is still very much a pain, with or without a dishwasher - shows what she knew.

Topics: Interesting, Weird

Jake Massey

Jake Massey is a journalist at LADbible. He graduated from Newcastle University, where he learnt a bit about media and a lot about living without heating. After spending a few years in Australia and New Zealand, Jake secured a role at an obscure radio station in Norwich, inadvertently becoming a real-life Alan Partridge in the process. From there, Jake became a reporter at the Eastern Daily Press. Jake enjoys playing football, listening to music and writing about himself in the third person.

@jakesmassey