06 January 2014

Mailing a Child in 1914

According to a variety of websites and Facebook postings a child was sent via United States mail in the 1910s. I had no idea that humans could be mailed in such a fashion one hundred years ago. A little skeptical, I decided to search digital newspapers for a reference to this incident. Sure enough, I located it.

A 1914 newspaper account mentions the child, May Pierstorff and her family by name. It also indicated the beginning and ending point of her 70 or so mile trip that only cost her parents 55 cents. 

Lima Daily News, 9 Mar 1914, page 2 - Lima, Ohio; digital image, Ancestry.com 6 January 2014
One never knows what one will find in old newspapers, but this reference does mention several relationships in addition to the mailing incident. It also includes several locations and addresses.