It was disappointing that the envelope was empty and I suspect it was saved for the stamp and the postmark.

Upon posting it to the Facebook page for Genealogy Tip of the Day, a fan mentioned a Chilean earthquake that resulted in a tsunami that reached the Hawaiian Islands and she suggested that maybe the letter contained news of the impact on the islands. The details she provided made it easier for me to find online references to the earthquake and the damage. That was a history lesson for me.

It was not even necessary to know about the incident to find out about it on a Google search. Entering “Hawaii May 1960” was all it took to discover websites that referenced the event.

Do you Google dates and places in this fashion? Don’t just search for the immediate date–in this case the letter was postmarked in June of 1960, but the earthquake and resulting tidal waves happened in May.