Sure enough, it happened in 1913, the same year the US Post Office began delivering packages. In 1914 Postal regulations changed to prohibit the mail delivery of humans, but the practice didn’t stop completely until 1915.
The first boy to be delivered by mail went only a mile to
his grandmother’s house. It cost 15
cents, but he was insured for $50. Other
children reportedly went for a dime up to 53 cents. One six year old girl traveled by mail train and
reports show she was just under the 50 pound limit. The 721 mile trip from Florida to Virginia
cost 15 cents.
Usually the child mail deliveries were made by a trusted
family friend and there were regulations created for this “special delivery”
service. According to the US Gov site,
there were “no heartbreaking
cases of a baby being stamped “Return to Sender” on record.”
When I
first saw these photos, my historical fiction writing mind leapt into high gear
imagining what stories could be told from the child or parent’s point of
view. And “what if” question made
for both intrigue and drama. What if the baby were delivered to the wrong place? What if no one were there to receive the parcel?
Then my “mom” persona kicked in with thoughts about trust and safety. One FB friend pointed out
that we have our own version of sending children today when we turn them over
to airline companies for long flights across the country. We wouldn’t do that
unless we had faith that they would arrive at their destinations safely, would
we?
Still, a
baby looking innocently out from a mail carrier’s bag pulls on the heart
strings in a different way. It opens up
a vast number of questions about the history of the times and the life style of
the people. Most of the child deliveries
were rural and the distance of travel less than 50 miles. Fifty miles was a lot farther in 1913 than it is today. In a mail bag, that
might have been an eternity for a small child.
However,
it might also be that in those days a willingness to trust others was more
prevalent. Today newscasts and other media fuel our fears and eclipse our faith in the good will of others.
The landscape
and life-style of the past are gone, but we can incorporate lessons of
simplicity into our daily lives. Mail bag or jet, we continue to be human. We can choose trust over fear and faith over skepticism. And we still need to rely on others.
For the complete story about this unique piece of history
read “Very Special Deliveries” by Nancy Pope, Historian and Curator of the
Smithsonian National Postal Museum
