Two letters to Santa both from about a century ago were found in the old New York apartment. Picture: Presents from the Past Project Facebook page

Among the dust and charred rubble under the chimney of his Hell’s Kitchen home, Peter Mattaliano found two separate 100-year-old handwritten letters to Santa.

Dated 1905 and 1907, the letters were written by Alfred and Mary McGann, siblings in an Irish Catholic family who at the time of writing appeared to be around six and nine years old.

The scrawled notes detail humble requests, painting a picture of a poor but content immigrant family.

Mary’s letter to Santa Claus, to be delivered to “reindeer land”, is heartbreaking in its message of generosity and apparent poverty.

“Dear Santa Claus, I am very glad that you are coming around tonight,” the letter begins.

“My little brother would like you to bring him a wagon which I know that you cannot afford so I will ask you to bring him whatever you think best. Please bring me something nice what you think best.”

The heartbreaking postscript reads: “Please do not forget the poor.”

PS. Please don’t forget the poor. Picture: Presents from the Past Project Facebook pageSource:Facebook

In an interview with the New York Times, Mr Mattaliano, 66, said Mary’s last line hit him hard.

“This is a family that couldn’t afford a wagon, and she’s writing, ‘Don’t forget the poor,’ ” he said. “That just shot an arrow through me. What did she think poor was?”

The second letter, written by Mary’s brother Alfred, asks for a drum and a hook and ladder from the man in red.

The century-old letters have inspired their discoverer, an acting coach and screen writer, to learn more about the family.

In meeting with record clerks and analysing ancestory records, Mr Mattaliano discovered the children’s father had died in 1904, leaving Mary and Alfred’s mother, a widow at 35, the breadwinner for their small family.

With the help of New York Times researchers, he found as young adults Mary worked as a stenographer and Alfred as a printer, and the two both married later in life.

Neither had children and both apparently died in Queens in their 80s.

Mr Mattaliano hoped to pass on the letters to the writers’ relations but has so far failed to find any blood relatives.

Alfred’s letter contained simple requests for Santa.Source:Facebook

The discovery also inspired Mr Mattaliano to pen a film script based on the letters and says his idea has attracted interest from investors and he hopes to start working on the film next year.

Mr Mattaliano will call the film Present from the Past, he announced on a Facebook page set up to document the project.

The story will “embody a spirit of generosity and hope, as well as an endearing testament to New York’s immigrant’s humble origins”.