The WHAT is in the mail?!

In addition to other more useful bits of information, I also waste space in my cortex with a lot of trivia.

The following is a small example:
(Pun intended, of course)

Parcel Post Service became available to Americans on January 1, 1913. During the first six months of operation approximately 300 million parcels were handled and the introduction of collect-on-delivery service on July 1, 1913 only added to the popularity. The popularity of parcel post was also evident as postal officials increased the allowable weight of parcels. In 1913, the maximum weight was increased from 11 to 20 pounds for the first and second zones. Soon thereafter, the maximum rose again, from 20 to 50 pounds.
(That was when the "fun" began)

One of the oddest parcel post packages ever sent was "mailed" from Grangeville to Lewiston, Idaho on February 19, 1914. The 48½ pound package was just short of the 50 pound limit. The name of the "package" was May Pierstorff, four years old.
(Pictured above)

May's parents decided to send their daughter for a visit with her grandparents, but were reluctant to pay the train fare. Noticing that there were no provisions in the parcel post regulations specifically concerning sending a person through the mails, they decided to "mail" their daughter. The postage, 53¢ in parcel post stamps, was attached to May's coat. This little girl traveled the entire distance to Lewiston in the train's mail compartment and was delivered to her grandmother's home by the mail clerk on duty, Leonard Mochel.

Also in 1914 a 2-year-old boy was sent via Parcel Post from Oklahoma to Kansas (postage paid: 18¢) and the service delivered at least two other children before it officially banned the mailing of human beings later that year.

I wonder if those "packages" were insured...