Two men with the same last name have created an unlikely connection thanks to a Peter Pan bag they both owned.
Peter Shannon of Kitchener came into possession of the small book bag he believes was manufactured around the time Disney released the original, animated Peter Pan movie.
When he first opened it up, he found the inscription of a Gary Lee Shannon from Butler, Pennsylvania.
“He put his school and his address,” said Peter. “That made it so easy to track him down.”
Peter found more than 70 Gary Shannon’s online in Pensylvania. He narrowed it down to two and struck gold when he called one from Butler.
“I had no idea what he was talking about,” said the 74-year-old Gary. “I didn’t remember this book case until he sent a picture of it.
It was really interesting, and then for him to have the same last name as mine.”
Gary adds he must have been nine or ten years old when he used the bag in the 1950s.
Peter is the president of a local video production company. He says one of his biggest inspirations is Walt Disney and collects memorabilia.
It was the sister of an employee who gave him the bag from an animation professor in Ottawa.
Gary says he doesn’t know how the bag would have got there from Butler.
“If we could get that bag to talk we might hear some stories,” said Peter.
The Kitchener man plans to send the bag home to Gary for his 75th birthday on Wednesday.
“I don’t know Peter, I’ve never met Peter, but he seems like an awfully nice guy,” said Gary.
