Anything fragile, liquid, perishable, or potentially hazardous? You won’t believe some of these strange things that have been sent in the mail!
1. Cat Survives For 8 Days On 260 Mile Journey Across England
Not sure how much the postage cost, but for a cat in England a package delivery may have cost several of her nine lives. Cupcake the cat apparently dove into a box of DVDs her owner had been packing to send to a buyer 260 miles away in Worthington, West Sussex. The recipient was shocked to see the Siamese cat curled up next to the stack of movies. Luckily Cupcake had a microchip and a vet was able to quickly contact her owners who had been plastering their neighborhood with “Missing Cat” signs, having no idea of the epic postal trip she was on.
2. Someone Mailed Their Child To Grandma’s House
In February of 1914 a six year-old girl named May Pierstorff was mailed for 53 cents to her grandparents’ house 73 miles away in the new parcel post service. The girl was not actually put in a box, but children were sometimes taken to a destination by the mail carrier for the price of mailing a package. This happened many times between 1913 and 1915 before the Postmaster General issued new rules restricting human beings from being sent through the mail.
It was a different time: here is another baby sent through the mail.
3. A Slave Mailed Himself To Freedom
A man who became known as Henry “Box” Brown had a plan to use the mail service to escape slavery in Virginia. Brown mailed himself in a small box, taking with him some water and biscuits for the journey to an abolitionist in Philadelphia where he would be free. The trip took 27 hours by train, much of which he was upside down in the box. However he was successfully delivered and his trip inspired others in the Underground Railroad to mail slaves to the North.
4. Someone Mailed A Human Ear To Jared Leto
In 2013 Oscar winning actor and rock musician Jared Leto got a package from a fan who had mailed him a severed human ear. At the time he was quoted as saying:
“Someone cut their ear off once and sent it to me. That was very strange. A whole ear. The Van Gogh move. The note just said, 'Are you listening?' I never knew who it was, who's missing their ear out there."
Apparently he was listening because the guy who is now playing The Joker poked a hole in the body part and put a string through it so he could wear it as a necklace. Ugh, OK.
5. Businessman Mails A Bank Brick By Brick
In the early 1900’s a businessman in Utah was building a bank. However instead of having the bricks delivered via traditional freight methods he thought it would be cheaper to send the building materials through the US Postal System. The poor post office was overwhelmed with 40 tons of 80,000 bricks sent in 50 pound increments. This led the post office to make a rule that you can only ship up to 200 pounds a day, saying; “It is not the intent of the United States Postal Service that buildings be shipped through mail.”
6. Bees In The Mail!
As all of you beekeepers know, you can easily order fresh packages of live honey bees through the mail. This brings up a lot of questions, such as: how do you get bees into an envelope? However, many bee delivery places warn that you will be required to pick up the box of bees from the post office and it may be inspected by the postmaster.
1. Cat Survives For 8 Days On 260 Mile Journey Across England
Not sure how much the postage cost, but for a cat in England a package delivery may have cost several of her nine lives. Cupcake the cat apparently dove into a box of DVDs her owner had been packing to send to a buyer 260 miles away in Worthington, West Sussex. The recipient was shocked to see the Siamese cat curled up next to the stack of movies. Luckily Cupcake had a microchip and a vet was able to quickly contact her owners who had been plastering their neighborhood with “Missing Cat” signs, having no idea of the epic postal trip she was on.
2. Someone Mailed Their Child To Grandma’s House
In February of 1914 a six year-old girl named May Pierstorff was mailed for 53 cents to her grandparents’ house 73 miles away in the new parcel post service. The girl was not actually put in a box, but children were sometimes taken to a destination by the mail carrier for the price of mailing a package. This happened many times between 1913 and 1915 before the Postmaster General issued new rules restricting human beings from being sent through the mail.
It was a different time: here is another baby sent through the mail.
3. A Slave Mailed Himself To Freedom
A man who became known as Henry “Box” Brown had a plan to use the mail service to escape slavery in Virginia. Brown mailed himself in a small box, taking with him some water and biscuits for the journey to an abolitionist in Philadelphia where he would be free. The trip took 27 hours by train, much of which he was upside down in the box. However he was successfully delivered and his trip inspired others in the Underground Railroad to mail slaves to the North.
4. Someone Mailed A Human Ear To Jared Leto
In 2013 Oscar winning actor and rock musician Jared Leto got a package from a fan who had mailed him a severed human ear. At the time he was quoted as saying:
“Someone cut their ear off once and sent it to me. That was very strange. A whole ear. The Van Gogh move. The note just said, 'Are you listening?' I never knew who it was, who's missing their ear out there."
Apparently he was listening because the guy who is now playing The Joker poked a hole in the body part and put a string through it so he could wear it as a necklace. Ugh, OK.
5. Businessman Mails A Bank Brick By Brick
In the early 1900’s a businessman in Utah was building a bank. However instead of having the bricks delivered via traditional freight methods he thought it would be cheaper to send the building materials through the US Postal System. The poor post office was overwhelmed with 40 tons of 80,000 bricks sent in 50 pound increments. This led the post office to make a rule that you can only ship up to 200 pounds a day, saying; “It is not the intent of the United States Postal Service that buildings be shipped through mail.”
6. Bees In The Mail!
As all of you beekeepers know, you can easily order fresh packages of live honey bees through the mail. This brings up a lot of questions, such as: how do you get bees into an envelope? However, many bee delivery places warn that you will be required to pick up the box of bees from the post office and it may be inspected by the postmaster.
