
It was once socially acceptable to send children by post [pdf] - Raed667
http://www.centralfloridastampclub.org/pages/pics3/022015insa.pdf
======
1024core
I have seen live ducks and beehives being sent by mail in a post office
distribution center (P&DC) with my own eyes.

I was standing there, and one of the boxes moved. I freaked out, and quickly
caught the attention of a USPS guy walking by: hey, that box, that box just
moved!! He calmly replied, yes, those are ducks. And then pointed a different
box, and said those are bees....

~~~
imgabe
And that's how you learned about the birds and the bees?

Sorry, I'll show myself out...

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Animats
It's still acceptable to send them by plane. Most US airlines accept
"unaccompanied minors", for an extra charge of $150 or so.[1] Interestingly,
kids 15 and over can usually just buy a ticket and go; for United Air Lines,
it's 12.

[1] [https://www.united.com/web/en-
US/content/travel/specialneeds...](https://www.united.com/web/en-
US/content/travel/specialneeds/minors/default.aspx)

~~~
thawkins
I used to fly all around the world as an "unaccompanied minor" , having
parents who where in the services and posted mainly abroad, I used to travel
upto 6 times a year by myself from the age of 8. I usualy flew British Airways
(im british).

~~~
OJFord
What? You can post parents as well as children?

(Sorry, couldn't resist..)

------
rcurry
"She was sent through a train’s mail compartment with 53 cents of stamps
attached to her jacket."

How awesome is that. I bet the kids thought it was cool too - they probably
still would today, "Hey kid, you want to ride with the people, or with THE
MAIL?"

------
peterkelly
Then there was the guy who posted himself from the UK to Australia:

[http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31700049](http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-31700049)

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lern_too_spel
It's very unlikely to have been socially accepted, or why would it have been
newsworthy at the time?
[http://www.snopes.com/photos/people/mailingchildren.asp](http://www.snopes.com/photos/people/mailingchildren.asp)

------
mdergosits
Reminds me of the Velvet Underground song / story "The Gift"

[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI-
YiaWDgB4](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI-YiaWDgB4)

------
jkot
No children was in box etc.. It was replacement for regular ticket, I guess it
was cheaper. And comfort in 3th class was not much different.

------
AnimalMuppet
"Mailing May" ([http://www.amazon.com/Mailing-May-Michael-O-
Tunnell/dp/00644...](http://www.amazon.com/Mailing-May-Michael-O-
Tunnell/dp/0064437248/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1447284982&sr=1-1&keywords=mailing+may))
is a good (fictionalized) account of the story in the third paragraph, that of
May Pierstorff. (By the way, the town was Grangeville, ID, not Graneville.)

------
acchow
Across the country by train? How long does that take? How much food and water
did they have to bring along?

~~~
smt88
Trains have served food and water almost since they were first used by
travelers, but there have always also been businesses offering those things at
some stops[1].

The US used to have much cheaper and more expansive rail travel[2]. One could
imagine that with such widespread usage, there would have been service between
cities with fewer stops (much like the express trains in New York, which
complement the regular, local trains).

1\.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dining_car#History](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dining_car#History)

2\.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transportation_in_the_Uni...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rail_transportation_in_the_United_States#Competition_with_trucks_and_automobiles)

------
pm24601
I don't see a problem with this. Can we get this back?

:-)

------
Adaptive
I'd like to point out that this is effectively VPNing your child on a USPS
port.

------
dang
Url changed from [https://boingboing.net/2015/11/08/it-was-once-socially-
accep...](https://boingboing.net/2015/11/08/it-was-once-socially-
acceptabl.html), which points to this.

~~~
Raed667
weird

~~~
dang
If you read the HN guidelines, you'll see that they ask you to post the
original source in cases like this.

[https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html](https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html)

~~~
Raed667
I know the guidelines, it is bizarre because I'm pretty sure I put the link to
the article when submitting.

