Mysterious love story: Vintage shop seeks lost locket's 1930s-era owner
A Calgary woman is searching to identify two mysterious love birds, memorialized in an antique locket.
The heart-shaped pendant holds two tiny black-and-white photos. One shows a woman wearing spectacles and a big smile, her hair styled in a curly, 1930s-era bob. The other shows a square-jawed man wearing a Second World War field uniform.
Their identities remain a mystery, one that Anna-Marie Saunders wants to solve.
"We wanted to find the love story," she said.
Story 'needs to be told'
Saunders and her partner own It's Vintage YYC, a company in Calgary that sells vintage jewellery and other items. They came across this locket in an estate sale, and it immediately intrigued them.
They posted images of the gold, etched locket on social media, in hopes of finding a descendent of either person.
"Every piece we find has a story and some stories are so much better than others," Saunders said. "And this one just, I feel it needs to be told."
They had a staff member at the Military Museums in Calgary examine the locket. It was determined the man was wearing a Second World War army field uniform for a lance corporal, a rank that's since been abolished in Canada.
Saunders is encouraging people to consider that the lance corporal might have died in the war. So if you recognize the woman as your mother or grandmother, you might find the man had been her earlier companion, before she met your father or grandfather.
The company's posts have been shared across the country, all the way to Nova Scotia, but the only two calls so far have come from closer to home.
One woman in Lloydminster thought it might be her aunt, who had a locket stolen from her home years ago.
Another woman, from Calgary, thought it might be her grandmother. Family photos were strikingly similar to those in the locket but the family now believes it's not her.
Both the aunt and grandmother are deceased, so they cannot be asked.
With no definite ID yet, the mystery's case file remains open. Saunders said she'll hang onto the locket in hopes she can find its owner.
"It's a pretty cool story, and I think it should go back to the family," she said.
With files from the Calgary Eyeopener.
