Kamal Ghorui
The “Instant-delivery era” is often criticised for its obsession with convenience, but did you know, over a century ago, there used to be a “postal delivery service” that sounds almost impossible today! Well, you may be trusting the delivery agent with your super-expensive purchases, however, we’re pretty sure you won’t trust them with your baby. By now, you must be thinking you’re reading non-sense, but here’s the catch: In the early 1900s America, people used Postal Services to send their babies via mail. Yes, you read it right, children used to be “mailed” back then.
How the bizarre practice began
According to The Guinness World Records, mailing babies via postal service was practiced for a brief period between 1913 and 1915. This strange practice took place in the United States after January 1, 1913, when parcel postal services allowed ordinary Americans to send larger packages through the mail. Before this, parcels over four pounds could not be shipped easily.After the service started, rural people found a convenient way to transport goods. And since the rules were still vague, there was no restriction that could stop people from testing their limits, and this is how “mailing babies” became a practice.
Stamps on the coat, mailing tag around neck: The recorded cases
As per Guinnessworldrecords.com, one of the first recorded cases was of a baby boy named James Beagle from Ohio. His parents, Jesse and Mathilda Beagle, reportedly paid 15 cents in stamps and insured him for 50 dollars before sending him to his grandparents’ home about a mile away. Little James weighed just under the postal service’s 11-pound package limit at the time.Soon more families followed the same and sent their babies through postal services. In Oklahoma, a grandmother reportedly mailed her young grandson to relatives in Kansas. The child wore a mailing tag around his neck, and the journey cost only 18 cents.Perhaps the most astonishing story was that of four-year-old Charlotte May Pierstorff in 1914. Charlotte weighed just under the postal service’s 50-pound parcel limit, so her parents attached 53 cents worth of stamps to her coat and sent her by railway mail from Idaho to visit her grandmother 73 miles away. She reportedly rode in the mail compartment of the train and was personally handed over by the postal clerk at the destination.
Why the mail carriers were trusted so much
Mail carriers back then were deeply trusted by communities, and it is because they did not just deliver letters. They often checked on isolated families, carried medicines, and sometimes even helped in emergencies. More importantly, parents found sending children with a trusted mailman safer as well cheaper than buying a train ticket.
When the strange practice came to an end
Howsoever the community trusted the service, over time postal authorities realised the obvious risks. There were growing concerns about child safety, legal liability, and the fact that human beings were never meant to be treated as parcels, no matter how trustworthy the mail carrier was.By 1915, that is after almost 2 years, the United States Post Office officially banned the mailing of children, thus putting an end to the unusual practice.
A message for parents
Well, certainly the strange practice came to an end, however, it is fascinating to even think that mailing babies existed back then. As for parents, next time you feel guilty about asking someone else to babysit your child for a few hours, just remember, at least you’re not putting stamps on them and sending them through the post office.
