When most of us think about the post office, we picture bills, junk flyers, and the occasional birthday card. Sending cash through the mail feels like an adventure most would avoid because of the ever‑present risk of theft or loss.
Yet, throughout history, some intrepid souls have chosen the postal system for far more audacious purposes. Below, we count down the 10 weirdest things ever dispatched via the post – from glittering gems to living beings and even a daring prison‑break.
10 The Hope Diamond
If you possessed one of the world’s most valuable gemstones, you’d probably think twice before handing it off to a postal carrier. The logical assumption would be to transport it with the utmost caution.
The stone’s previous owners were anything but timid. For instance, socialite Evalyn Walsh McLean once fastened the famed blue gem to her dog’s collar, and she also allowed wounded soldiers at Walter Reed Hospital to toss the diamond between their beds as a morale‑boosting ritual. However, the most daring journey the Hope Diamond ever undertook was a trip through the United States Postal Service.
After McLean passed away in 1947, the jewel was purchased by renowned jeweler Harry Winston. He leveraged the famous stone’s allure to attract clientele, and in 1958 he agreed to donate it to the Smithsonian Institution. Winston’s solution for moving the priceless artifact? Ship it by ordinary mail.
The postage tabulated to a modest $2.44, but Winston didn’t leave anything to chance – he secured a $1 million insurance policy on the diamond. Postal worker James G. Todd carried the brown‑paper‑wrapped Hope Diamond to the Smithsonian, where he presented it to the museum’s director before a gathering of cameras.
9 Henry ‘Box’ Brown
Born into bondage in 1815 Virginia, Henry Brown earned the nickname “Box” after orchestrating a daring escape at age 33.
Brown had married a fellow enslaved person, and together they raised three children. When their master sold his wife and kids to a harsher owner, the family was torn apart and marched away with ropes around their necks. Watching his loved ones being taken, Brown resolved to flee.
He linked up with abolitionist allies in the North, and together they concocted a bold plan: Brown would be sealed inside a crate and mailed to freedom.
To secure a day off work, Brown deliberately injured his hand. He was then placed in a wooden box measuring roughly 0.9 m (3 ft) long, 0.8 m (2.7 ft) deep, and 0.6 m (2 ft) wide, equipped with a few biscuits and a scant supply of water. The crate bore the simple label “Dry Goods.”
For 27 grueling hours, the box traveled by rail, wagon, and steamboat, finally arriving at its destination. When the antislavery committee pried open the container, Brown cheerfully greeted them with, “How do you do, gentlemen?” He had, quite literally, escaped slavery via the postal system.
8 Suffragettes
Beyond daring escapes, the mail has also served as a vehicle for political protest. In early‑20th‑century Britain, suffragettes fought fiercely for women’s voting rights, employing every tactic to capture public attention.
In 1909, two activists, Miss Solomon and Miss McLellan, exploited a little‑known provision that permitted “human letters” to travel through the postal network. They were officially posted to 10 Downing Street with the aim of confronting Prime Minister H. H. Asquith.
The women arrived at the post office, paid the required delivery fee, and were handed to a telegram boy who escorted them toward the Prime Minister’s residence. One carried a poster announcing an upcoming demonstration; the other bore the delivery notice.
Because the parcels were addressed directly to the Prime Minister, protocol dictated that he personally acknowledge receipt. However, the butler refused to hand them over, despite the suffragettes’ claim that they had already prepaid delivery. Consequently, the women were sent back to the post office, and the telegram boy had to explain why the delivery failed.
7 Testing The Limits
Some researchers simply cannot resist probing the boundaries of postal regulations. A group of investigators conducted a systematic experiment, publishing their findings in the *Annals of Improbable Research*, the journal behind the Ig Nobel Prizes.
The objects they mailed spanned categories such as valuable, sentimental, unwieldy, pointless, potentially suspicious, and outright disgusting. Items ranged from a $20 bill sealed in clear plastic to a helium‑filled balloon, and even a box of dead fish and seaweed. Each piece bore the appropriate postage, and the researchers recorded the time taken for each to reach its destination.
The study revealed that the United States Postal Service was surprisingly permissive. When a human molar was dispatched in a clear plastic box, postal staff repackaged it in a padded envelope and attached a note stating, “Please be advised that human remains may not be transported through the mail, but we assumed this was of sentimental value and made an exception in your case.”
Overall, 64 % of the eccentric parcels arrived successfully. When postal employees handled items classified as “disgusting,” the researchers even rewarded them with a box of chocolates for their tolerance.
6 Children
While some mailed objects were political or experimental, others were simply human beings traveling for family reasons. The U.S. Parcel Post Service, launched in 1913, transformed package delivery by allowing parcels up to 5 kg (11 lb) to be sent through the mail.
That same year, Mr. and Mrs. Jesse Beauge of Ohio mailed their five‑kilogram (10‑lb) infant to his grandmother’s home, paying a modest 15 cents and even insuring the child for $50.
When the weight limit later increased to 23 kg (50 lb), another family saw an opportunity. May Pierstorff’s parents, unwilling to pay a train fare, stitched the correct number of stamps onto May’s coat and mailed the 22‑kilogram (48.5‑lb), five‑year‑old child aboard a rail carriage bound for her grandmother. In 1914, the Postmaster General finally prohibited the use of the postal system for transporting people.
5 Potatoes
Finding a fresh, heartfelt way to convey a birthday wish or congratulations can be a challenge. Traditional cards often feel generic, so why not let a humble spud do the talking?
Surprisingly, several companies across the globe now offer a service that lets you mail a potato to a chosen recipient. Some businesses will inscribe your message directly onto the tuber’s skin, affix postage, and ship it as‑is. Others provide more elaborate options, decorating the potato, wrapping it, or even attaching googly eyes for added whimsy.
The market is fiercely competitive, prompting firms to constantly innovate. One provider even prints a full‑color portrait onto the potato’s surface. If the recipient intends to eat the spud, they may need to peel away the artwork—unless they’re comfortable with a slightly “cannibalistic” snack.
4 A Cat
When most think of mail delivery, the image of a carrier strolling between houses comes to mind. Yet, in 1890s New York, a network of pneumatic tubes propelled parcels across the city at astonishing speeds.
The inaugural shipments consisted of papers, religious texts, and a copy of the Bible. Not content with such pedestrian cargo, operators soon dispatched a live tortoiseshell cat through the tubes.
According to a contemporary postal worker’s account: “How it could live after being shot at terrific speed from Station P in the Produce Exchange Building, making several turns before reaching Broadway and Park Row, I cannot conceive, but it did. It seemed dazed for a minute or two, then ran and was quickly secured in a basket provided for that purpose.” Subsequent experiments sent a goldfish bowl with live fish, which arrived unscathed.
3 Cullinan Diamond
The Cullinan Diamond holds the distinction of being the largest gem‑quality diamond ever uncovered, weighing an astonishing 3,100 carats (about 0.6 kg or 1.3 lb). Discovered in South Africa, it was purchased for a staggering £150,000 as a gift for King Edward VII.
Transporting such a priceless stone from the African mines to England posed a logistical nightmare. Authorities announced an elaborate security operation, deploying detectives and bodyguards to escort the gem to the ship bound for London. Even when locked in the captain’s safe, the stone remained under tight guard.
In reality, the publicly guarded box was a decoy. The genuine Cullinan Diamond was placed in an unassuming cardboard box with merely three shillings of postage and mailed to England.
The intrigue didn’t end there. When the diamond was later sent to Amsterdam for cutting and polishing, another decoy traveled aboard a Royal Navy vessel, while the actual stone accompanied its cutter, concealed in his coat pocket. The resulting gems now adorn the British Crown Jewels.
2 A Bank
In the 1910s, Vernal, Utah, was a modest settlement of only a few hundred residents, yet its leaders envisioned rapid growth. Local banker William H. Coltharp decided the town needed a sturdy brick bank to signal its emerging prosperity.
The nearest brickworks lay a daunting 274 km (170 mi) away, and transporting the bricks by conventional means would have cost four times the price of the bricks themselves. Coltharp discovered that the newly established Parcel Service could ship the bricks at a fraction of that cost.
To stay within the 23 kg (50 lb) per‑package limit, the bricks were divided into numerous crates. At peak, as many as 40 crates a day—totaling a ton—were dispatched from the factory. Postal workers, eager to simplify delivery, wanted to drop the heavy loads directly at the construction site, but the Vernal postmaster insisted they pass through the post office first.
Eventually, a whole bank’s worth of bricks accumulated inside the post office, prompting the postmaster to regret his strict adherence to protocol. The bank was built and still stands today. In response, a new postal rule capped the amount any individual could send to a single recipient at 91 kg (200 lb) per day, preventing future brick‑mail endeavors.
1 W. Reginald Bray
W. Reginald Bray was the quintessential English eccentric, dedicating his life to whimsical pursuits. A passionate autograph collector, he amassed a staggering 15,000 signatures and earned the moniker “The Autograph King.” Yet his most notorious hobby involved testing the limits of the British Royal Mail.
In 1898, Bray purchased a copy of the official postal regulations and set out to challenge them. He delighted in addressing seemingly random objects and observing whether they would be delivered. His front‑door letterbox routinely received an eclectic assortment: half‑smoked cigars, a frying pan, and even a rabbit’s skull.
Many of these curiosities bore his own name, but Bray also enjoyed confounding the postal service with cryptic destinations such as “The Resident, London” or “The proprietor of the most remarkable hotel in the world on the road between Santa Cruz and Santa Jose, California.”
Fortunately, his dog, clearly addressed to the family home, navigated the system safely. In one foggy evening, Bray himself became lost and, in a moment of sheer absurdity, mailed himself to the address he was seeking.
10 Weirdest Things: A Glimpse of the Extraordinary
From dazzling diamonds to daring human escapes, these ten stories showcase the most bizarre, daring, and downright astonishing items ever dispatched through the post. Whether you’re a history buff, a trivia lover, or simply curious about the limits of postal ingenuity, these tales are sure to amaze.