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A chocolate-filled gift that was handed out 85 years ago is set to sell at auction — and it comes with a heartfelt backstory.
Sybil Cook was a nine-year-old girl living in Neath, South Wales, in 1939 when her uncle gave her a chocolate Easter egg, as Hansons Auctioneers reported.
With the gift, Cook’s uncle asked the young girl to ration the sweet treat, as “there might not be any chocolate around soon.”
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World War II had arrived in Britain — and Cook took her uncle’s words very seriously, so much so that she didn’t take a single bite of the chocolate egg for the rest of her life.
When Cook died in 2021 at age 91, the blue-and-white paper was still fully wrapped around the chocolate egg, according to Hansons.
Sybil Cook was just nine years old in 1939 when she was given the chocolate egg by her uncle — and told to ration it. (Hansons Auctioneers / Fox News)
One of Cook’s two daughters, Gill Bolter, told Hansons that her mother was a disciplined woman who wanted to be “respectful to her elders.”
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“When we asked Mom 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,” Bolter recalled.
The 85-year-old egg is still intact — and will go up for auction on March 19. (Hansons Auctioneers / Fox News)
Bolter detailed the egg’s journey over the last 85 years.
He said it went with Cook through her childhood and into her marriage in 1955. It then sat on a shelf in her bedroom for the next 60 years.
Bolter said she was eventually gifted the egg — and that she kept it in her bedroom until now.
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On Tuesday, March 19, the egg will be auctioned off by Hansons Auctioneers.
It’s expected to sell for at least $300.
Cook lived to age 91 and kept the egg with her, completely uneaten, throughout her entire life. It then went to one of her children. It will now go up for auction. (Hansons Auctioneers / Fox News)
The box containing the egg held up so well that markings on the back noting the owner’s name and year can still be seen.
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The 61-year-old director at a hospitality company detailed her mother’s personality by saying she loved antique shows on television — and that her mom would love to know that her daughter was auctioning off the special egg.
Sybil Cook’s name can be seen to this very moment on the chocolate Easter egg box with the year 1939 clearly showing. (Hansons Auctioneers / Fox News)
“It would be lovely if the egg went to a museum alongside mom’s wartime memories,” she told Hansons.
Hansons Auctioneers owner Charles Hanson said that the origin story of the Easter egg “melted” his heart.
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“It’s a wonderful reminder of wartime austerity, respectful obedience and a little girl who was so strict with herself [that] she would not allow herself this treat,” he said in a press release.
A chocolate Easter egg was given to a then-nine-year-old from Britain, Sybil Cook, shown at left in her later years, during World War II. It’s now going up for auction. (Hansons Auctioneers / Fox News)
Those interested in bidding on the unique treat can visit hansonslive.co.uk for more information.
FOX Business reached out to Hansons for additional information.
For more Lifestyle articles, visit www.foxbusiness.com/lifestyle.
