A beach stroll in Ocean City led Amy Smyth Murphy to a remarkable discovery that could set a world record. She found an antiquated green corked bottle inscribed with the words "Barr & Brother Philadelphia," a mid-19th-century business. The bottle contained several items, including a business card belonging to William and John Klemm, who ran a furnishing goods company in Philadelphia until 1881, and a note referencing a late 19th-century Atlantic City yacht called Neptune.
Smyth Murphy believes the bottle was tossed into the water about 146 years ago, which would make it older than the current Guinness World Record holder, a message-holding container found in Australia in 2018. She has applied to have the bottle vetted by Guinness World Records.
The discovery occurred after a multimillion-dollar beach fill operation in the Ocean City area, which experts believe may have dislodged the bottle from the ocean floor. Smyth Murphy has been sharing her adventures in uncovering the messages inside the bottle on TikTok, where she and her family have been gently extracting the decaying pieces of paper from the container.