Skip to main content
Skip to main content

Hot on HuffPost Food:

See More Stories
Tell us what you think for a chance at $1000!


Let loose the prunes of war

A London auction house is offering part of a collection of war-time spy memorabilia owned by the late Doreen Mulot, who was a member of Britain's Special Operations during World War II. One of the most unusual pieces in the collection? A pair of aged prunes.  The now hardened fruits were originally intended to carry messages to prisoners of war. After being softened in water, the pit of the prune would be removed and a message - usually maps or escape plans - sealed in waxed paper would be inserted inside. The prunes would be re-dried and shipped out.

Mulot's great nephew is the one offering the prunes and assorted other memorabilia for sale. He described the plans as being "quite ingenious, [and] not the sort of thing you usually associate with fighting a war." This particular pair of prunes was not used during the war, but were simply kept as a souvenir of Mulot's service.

Source

Filed Under: Food Oddities, Ingredients
Tags: auction, britain, british isles, dried fruit, england, fruit, london, memorabilia, message, oddities, plums, prunes, secret, spy, uk, war

Sponsored Links

Reader comments (Page 1 of 1)

Razib Ahmed

4-14-2006 @10:42AM Razib Ahmed said... Before reading it, I did not know about this ingenious style of sending message. If I had money, I would have surely participated in the bid and had taken one but that's another story as I do not have the money. I think that it should be about by a museum or a university and this way the common people can know about this fascinating aspect of world war two.
Reply

1 Comments / 1 Pages

Most Popular Stories

  • FDA Still Struggling to Define

    FDA Still Struggling to Define "Gluten-Free"Read More

  • This Omelet Recipe Is Written On the Egg Itself

    This Omelet Recipe Is Written On the Egg ItselfRead More

  • Why Jewish Food Disappoints

    Why Jewish Food DisappointsRead More

Latest Flickr Feed


Sponsored Links