WHEN an enterprising salesman posted a holiday brochure to the Sharp family, the travel industry was still in its infancy.

The brochure, advertising luxury cruises, with prices starting from £1, was posted from Middlesbrough, on March 1, 1933.

Twenty-one years earlier the cruiseship industry had been thrown into chaos when more than 1,500 passengers died aboard the Titanic.

Despite the disaster, the industry had recovered and by 1933, a holiday aboard a liner was the height of sophistication.

Unfortunately, the Sharps probably never got to enjoy that holiday of a lifetime.

And if they did, the family almost certainly did not book their break through travel agents Escombe, McGrath and Co, of Zetland Buildings, Middlesbrough.

For the brochure, posted in 1933, did not arrive at its destination for 71 years, when it landed on the doormat of the Har greaves family, in Richmond, North Yorkshire.

"When I saw the envelope I thought it must be something to do with the deeds of the house because it looked so old," said Jenny Hargreaves, 54. "When I opened it I was amazed.

"I rang directory inquiries to see if the company still existed but they weren't listed - they probably went out of business a long time ago."

The letter was addressed to D Sharp. The musical link is a coincidence that amused the Hargreaves', who are all music teachers.

Although in an old envelope, the letter was newly stamped. Mrs Hargreaves believes it may have been lost behind a filing cabinet at a sorting office and only recently found and reposted by a conscientious worker.

"I would be very interested to find out where it has been and who resent it," she said.

The brochure advertises cruises on ships owned by White Star Line, the company that owned the Titanic until it sank in 1912.

Among the trips listed is an 11-day voyage from London to Morocco costing 13 guineas.

For seven guineas, cruisegoers could have sailed from Glasgow to Norway.

Ironically, the brochure warns that to avoid disappointment early application is essential.

A spokesman for Royal Mail said usually post arrived on time, but they had no idea were the letter had been.