On January 1, 1913, the United States Postal Service U.S updated its guidelines allowing the sending of orders weighing more than four kilos.
With this new flexibility and few clear restrictions on what could and could not be forwarded, Americans began to explore the limits of this policy.
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Unexpectedly, items that would be considered unusual to be mailed under current standards, such as eggs, sweets and butter, began to be mailed frequently. History.com reports indicate that there were even those who sent snakes.
In a remarkably creative maneuver, W. H. Coltharp, tasked with building a bank in Vernal, Utah, discovered that it was more economical to ship bricks via postal service than via train freight. Following this logic, he sent the bank's entire structure by correspondence.
Nancy Pope, chief curator of history at the National Postal Museum, shared surprising information: between 1913 and 1915, there were seven recorded cases of
The first acquaintance was in Ohio, where the Beagues, a local couple, posted their own son as a parcel.
They paid 15 cents, added $50 insurance for the baby, and sent him to his grandmother's house, just a mile away.
The practice was unusual and appeared more as an advertising stunt than a routine postal service, as indicated by the verification website Snopes.
Many citizens had close relationships with their postmen, which may have provided some trust in these unique cases.
On February 19, 1914, a rare event occurred: May Pierstorff, a 6-year-old girl, was sent as order by Rail Mail from Grangeville to Lewiston, Idaho, covering a distance of over 73 miles.
Weighing 48.5 pounds, May was within the 50-pound limit allowed for parcels. The 53-cent stamp, affixed to his coat, proved to be a more economical alternative than a regular train ticket.
(Image: disclosure)
The objective was a visit to his grandmother's house, and the delivery was taken care of by a relative, postman Leonard Mochel.
After the case came to light, and realizing the loophole exploited by May's parents, the general director of the Post Office, Albert S. Burleson, took action banning the practice of sending humans as correspondence.
In 2015, two unusual instances of children being posted in the mail were recorded. One of them was in Florida, where a mother sent her 6-year-old daughter to travel 720 kilometers to Virginia, where her father lived.
The other event, in August of the same year, involved 3-year-old Maud Smith, sent by her grandparents to cross 40 miles into Kentucky to visit her ailing mother.
While investigating the Smith incident, Superintendent John Clark of the Cincinnati division of the Postal Service Ferroviário, questioned the postman's decision to accept the “package”, since he was already against the regulations.
“It’s not clear whether he was fired, but he certainly had to provide clarification,” commented Nancy Pope, chief curator of history at the National Postal Museum.
Despite further attempts to send children by mail appeared, such requests were denied, ending this peculiar US postal practice.
