Dated to October 1906 — just two months before King’s Theater opened its doors — this hidden message found by historian Mike Hume lists the names of the people who built this historic venue.
Mike Hume With Message In A Bottle

Mike Hume
Mike Hume (left) and John Robb with the message in a bottle found inside Edinburgh’s King’s Theatre.

In the midst of a $51-million restoration project at King’s Theater in Edinburgh, Scotland, one of its donors paid a visit for a private tour of its lesser-explored areas. While standing on scaffolding 40 feet above the stage, he stuck his hand in a gap behind a decorative plaster crown adorning the proscenium arch and found a sealed bottle with a message inside.

Now, experts have extracted the note and discovered that it lists the names of the people who built the theater back in 1906.

Mike Hume, the 48-year-old donor and historian who finally brought this message to light after 119 years, described the find as “astonishing.”

“Like A Scene Out Of Indiana Jones“: Finding The Message In A Bottle At King’s Theater
Kings Theater Message In A Bottle

Mike Hume
The crevice in the proscenium arch where Mike Hume found the message in a bottle.

In December 2024, Hume, who is also a historian and theater photographer, was given a special behind-the-scenes tour of King’s Theater as it was restored in preparation for a spring 2026 reopening.