When Americans Mailed Their Kids: The True Story of Parcel Post Children
In 1914, a five-year-old in Grangeville, Idaho got weighed at the post office, had postage stamps stuck to her coat, and was mailed to her grandmother’s house 73 miles away. Postage was cheaper than a train ticket.
She wasn’t the only one. When parcel post launched on January 1, 1913, Americans could suddenly mail almost anything. Within weeks, somebody mailed a baby, and insured him for $50.
In this video
- May Pierstorff’s 73-mile trip across Idaho, and who actually rode along with her
- The baby-chick story that doesn’t hold up
- The six-year-old mailed about 720 miles
- Why the Post Office had to officially say “no humans”
- The man who mailed an entire bank, 80,000 bricks of it
Nobody got lost in the mail. Everybody made it to Grandma’s.
