An Easter egg dating back to 1939 is set to fetch up to £800 at auction.
The egg was given to nine-year-old Sybil Cook by her uncle, but with the Second World War on the horizon he advised her to eat it slowly.
Despite loving chocolate, she never ate a single piece.
When she died aged 91 in 2021 the egg in blue and white paper remained intact, complete with a decorative garden scene of a little girl with a watering can.
The box still bears her name written in pencil and the year 1939. Now, as a tribute to Sybil, of Neath, South Wales, her family have decided to part with the egg to celebrate her life.
It will be sold at Hansons Auctioneers in Etwall, Derbyshire, next month with a guide price of £600 to £800.
An Easter egg dating back to 1939 is set to fetch up to £800 at auction in Derbyshire. It has survived another Easter unbroken and uneaten
The egg was given to nine-year-old Sybil Cook by her uncle, but with the Second World War on the horizon he advised her to eat it slowly
Charles Hanson, owner of Hansons Auctioneers, said: ‘Sybil’s egg is a reminder of those difficult days. She learned to cherish the smallest things. That’s a very fine character trait to have.’
One of Sybil’s two daughters, Gill Bolter, 61, a director of a hospitality company from North Rise, Cardiff, said: ‘Mum loved life and chocolate. She was born on March 4, 1930 and would have just turned nine when she was given the egg in 1939.
‘With war looming her uncle said, “You be careful with that my girl, there might not be any chocolate around soon”.
‘He told her to ration it. Amazingly, she was so disciplined and respectful to her elders she never ate a single piece.
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‘When we asked mum how she’d managed to keep the egg for so long she told us that having kept it all through the war it didn’t seem right to eat it.
‘She did scratch a bit of the paper off the front when she was little, just to check there was chocolate behind it.
Sybil Rees (nee Cook) in 2019, as an 84-year-old. She passed away a week before her 91st birthday
‘The egg was very precious to her. Having kept it safe through her childhood she took it with her when she left home to get married in 1955 and for 60 years had it tucked away on a shelf in her bedroom in Bilton Road in Neath. The egg has now ended up in a cupboard in my bedroom.
‘After we lost her one of the care home nurses wrote a lovely tribute. She said, I would offer her a piece of chocolate after her evening medication. She’d always smile mischievously at me and say, “Why not? It’s the best medicine after all”.
‘It was very hard on us all during Covid. Sadly, like thousands of other families, for 18 months we kept in touch with weekly visits outside the care home when rules allowed.
The Easter egg box given as a gift in 1939. A note inside reads ‘Mary Mary Quite Contrary’
‘But mum deteriorated in early 2021 and sadly passed away a week after her 91st birthday.
‘I still get upset at the memory of us trying to sing happy birthday to her through a window.
‘Her Easter egg brings back happy memories for us all including my daughter, her only grandchild.
‘Mum loved antiques shows on TV and would have been thrilled to be part of this. It would be lovely if the egg went to a museum alongside mum’s wartime memories.’
