An Easter egg a little girl refused to eat in case of rationing during World War Two is set to fetch hundreds at auction. The sweet treat was given to Sybil Cook in 1939, but her uncle advised her to take her time eating it in case chocolate became scarce during the war.
Dutifully, despite loving chocolate, she didn’t just ration it, she never ate a single piece. After the war the unopened egg was looked after by Sybil, who stored it safely at her home in Neath.
The box still bears her name, ‘Sybil Cook’, written in pencil, and the year ‘1939’. When Sybil died at the age of 91 in 2021 the 'Mary Mary Quite Contrary'-themed egg in blue and white paper remained intact, complete with decorative garden scene of a little girl with a watering can. The 84-year-old egg will now go under the hammer at Hansons Auctioneers next month, where it is expected to fetch between £600 and £800.
One of Sybil’s two daughters, Gill Bolter, 61, a director of a hospitality company from 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.
“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.
“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.
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"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. 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.”
Auctioneer Charles Hanson said: “It’s a wonderful reminder of wartime austerity, respectful obedience and a little girl who was so strict with herself she would not allow herself the tiniest nibble of her favourite treat. Sybil’s egg is a reminder of those difficult days.
"She came from a generation who understood hardship. They learned to cherish and appreciate the smallest things. That’s a very fine character trait to have.”
