Friday, January the 23rd, 2004
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Dear Mr Key,
I read with some interest your item on fictional characters named after packaging materials (21st January). It put me in mind of excelsior, the small woodshavings used to cushion items in cartons and the precursor of the ‘packing peanuts' of today. Although I have not yet discovered a fictional character with this name, I hope you will take up the gauntlet. The delight that such a match would afford far outweighs the effort of uncovering it. I eagerly await the next in your thrilling series, and remain your faithful audience, etc, etc,
Pansy Cradledew
P.S. As the word excelsior can also mean upward striving or very small type, maybe you could consider enlarging your remit to include aspiring hotels or publications for ants?
Thanks to Pansy for that. Of course, excelsior is not solely a packaging material, as the photograph below (from the American Excelsior Company) makes abundantly clear.