In an age where text messages and emails travel almost instantaneously, it might be easy to forget the charm and peculiarity of traditional mail. Postal services worldwide have been the lifeline for global communication long before the invention of the internet. But beyond delivering heartfelt letters and vital documents, the world of postal services is filled with intriguing, often bizarre mishaps that have left an indelible mark on history.
One of the most curious postal stories involves Reg Spiers, the man who literally mailed himself from England to Australia in a wooden crate. It was 1964 when Reg found himself stranded in London without enough funds to return home. Faced with desperation, he hatched an extraordinary plan. With the help of a friend, he built a wooden crate just large enough to fit himself in and essentially became human cargo. His journey took three days, during which he survived on cans of tinned meat, biscuits, and a bottle of water. Although extremely risky, Reg arrived safely in Perth, having outsmarted customs and airport security.
Another remarkable postal story took place in 1914 when five-year-old May Pierstorff was 'mailed' to her grandparents, part of a peculiar trend happening back in the day. Postal regulations at the time did not expressly prohibit mailing humans, provided the 'package' did not exceed the 50-pound weight limit. May was duly 'mailed' from Grangeville, Idaho to Lewiston, Idaho, with stamps attached to her coat, and traveled in the mail compartment of a train. This and a few other incidents led the postal service to issue new rules prohibiting the mailing of people.
Meanwhile, the story of the Belgian 'Last Whipping Post' stands as a testament to confusion and a twist of fate. In 1910, a seven-foot high whipping post was constructed in Brussels as part of an attempt to modernize penal facilities. However, when plans changed and corporal punishment was abolished, the post faced an uncertain future. For unknown reasons, it ended up among a cache of items to be sold abroad, cataloged as an obsolete 'tool of punishment'. At an auction, it was misinterpreted as a piece of postal equipment and shipped mistakenly to a provincial office in Yorkshire, England. Once discovered, it became a topic of amusement and bewilderment.
In 1929, one of the most expensive postal errors ever recorded occurred in the US. The infamous 'Inverted Jenny' stamp was a mistakenly printed 24-cent stamp featuring an upside-down image of the iconic Curtis JN-4 airplane. Only a single sheet of 100 stamps was ever produced and sold before collectors noticed the error. Since then, it has become one of the most coveted stamps worldwide, with individual stamps fetching upwards of several million dollars in auctions.
While stamps and parcels can sometimes entwine themselves in curiosity, even modern technology does not always prevent mail mishaps. A hilarious instance happened recently when a Californian woman sent a gift to her friend – a pizza-shaped jigsaw puzzle. Upon arrival, something peculiar occurred; the delivery managed to somehow rearrange the pieces, resulting in a completely different image. Both women were bewildered but took it humorously as a proof of postal mystery.
Despite the strides in automation, human actions remain at the heart of postal operations, bringing a human element prone to error, creativity, and sometimes bizarre outcomes. These tales from the postal empire are rich exposes into the quirks of human ingenuity and error, highlighting the continuously evolving world of postal systems throughout history.
In a world that's perpetually evolving toward digital communication, there’s an immeasurable beauty in the history and tales of postal endeavors. It’s a reminder of a once dominant form of connection, riddled with remarkable stories that still resonate today.
The untold history of peculiar postal mishaps
