Politics · India Bureau
When parents mailed children: America's forgotten postal service oddity
Over a century ago, American families took advantage of a newly launched postal service to ship their young children across state lines, a practice that eventually prompted regulatory crackdowns and sparked national outrage.
LSN India ·
The year 1913 marked a turning point in American mail delivery when the US Postal Service introduced Parcel Post, enabling the shipment of substantially larger packages than previously permitted. The service was designed to facilitate commerce and reduce costs for families and businesses alike. However, resourceful parents soon discovered an unconventional use for the new system: mailing their young children to relatives in distant locations, thereby circumventing expensive train fares and travel arrangements.
The practice gained widespread attention when six-year-old May Pierstorff was dispatched approximately 73 miles to visit her grandmother, becoming perhaps the most infamous case of child parcelage. The incident captured public imagination and concern, triggering heated national debates about safety, parental responsibility, and the appropriate limits of postal regulation.
The unusual phenomenon prompted swift regulatory intervention. Postal authorities implemented restrictions explicitly prohibiting the mailing of children, establishing clearer guidelines on what constituted permissible cargo. Despite these measures, similar incidents continued to occur sporadically until 1915, when stricter enforcement protocols and enhanced inspection procedures were introduced to eliminate the practice entirely.
The episode remains a peculiar footnote in American postal history, illustrating how new technologies and services can yield unintended—and sometimes alarming—applications. It also underscores how rapidly social norms and regulatory frameworks can evolve in response to public concern.