Australian company totheletter DNA claims to be the first company in the world to offer commercially-available testing of envelopes, postcards with stamp/s and aerogrammes from deceased relatives for genealogical purposes.
On 2 May they announced that of the first 26 samples DNA was found in 16 of them. Genotyping of those samples is proceeding.
The website makes it clear that the company is still developing its procedures. It's one to watch.
I am very interested in the possibilities offered by this research, because both my parents died before DNA testing became available. After “Superstorm Sandy” flooded the basement of our family home seven years ago, the team of cleanup workers sent in by our homeowners insurance company discovered a beautiful flower bedecked gift box tied with a ribbon that had been carefully placed atop the house’s main beam in between the joists supporting the home’s main floor. “Love letters,” speculated the worker who brought it to me, and indeed, it turned out to contain letters my Dad had sent to my Mom while he was stationed abroad during World War II, A few feet further along the beam we discovered another box, which contained the letters my Mon had written to my Dad. Many were had been carefully preserved in their original envelopes and the rest were written on special air mail letters that could be folded, sealed and sent without using a separate envelope.
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