The bottle man

Harold Hackett from Prince Edward Island, Canada, has sent over 5000 bottled messages. It all began in 1996 when he was on a fishing trip. "I just scribbled my address on a piece of paper and put it in a glass Pepsi flask." A few months later he received an answer, which inspired him to start sending out bottles on a regular basis.

By now Hackett has received over 3100 replies. These letters have been sent from neighbouring places in Canada, the eastern shore of the United States, England, Ireland, Russia, Germany, Norway and more. He has received mainly letters, but also pictures and gifts like candy. Some of the people who reply to these bottled message also come to visit him. A couple from South Carolina camped out in his yard for two weeks. "They had the best time in the world" says Harold. He was once visited by a whole school class from Ontario who sent off bottled messages of their own.

Some of the places which Harold's bottles have reached.

Harold is not doing this as a political statement in this modern world of tweeting, texting and emailing. It wasn't a romantic notion about the lost art of letter writing either. "I don’t know, I just can’t stop,” he said. “Makes me feel good, and it’s a good way to pass time."

Harold Hackett in his home in Prince Edward Island.