Mail-Order Babies: The Bizarre History of Sending Kids in the Mail – MyHeritage November 28, 2019

Update: including additional links.

Human mail: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_mail, specifically, Mailing children: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_mail#Mailing_children

A Brief History of Children Sent Through the Mail: https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/brief-history-children-sent-through-mail-180959372/

Very Special Deliveries: https://postalmuseumblog.si.edu/2013/02/very-special-deliveries.html

When People Used the Postal Service to Mail Their Children: https://www.history.com/news/mailing-children-post-office

Mail that baby: A brief history of kids sent through the U.S. Postal Service: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/05/24/mail-that-baby-a-brief-history-of-kids-sent-through-the-u-s-postal-service/

I saw this earlier tonight on MyHeritage – Mail-Order Babies: The Bizarre History of Sending Kids in the Mail – MyHeritage November 28, 2019: https://blog.myheritage.com/2019/11/mail-order-babies-the-bizarre-history-of-sending-kids-in-the-mail/.

 by Esther November 28, 2019 Family History

The holiday season is a busy time for postal services all over the world: people everywhere ordering and sending cards and gifts. Here at MyHeritage our Black Friday MyHeritage DNA sale is in full swing, and we’re offering free shipping on 2+ kids… kits! We mean kits.

But hey, wouldn’t it be great if you could have your grandkids shipped to you as holiday gifts instead?

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Believe it or not, for a brief period of 6 years, it was possible to mail a baby or small child through the U.S. Postal Service!

Shipping the kids to Grandma

The United States Postal Service introduced parcel post in 1913. Before then, all packages sent by mail had to weigh 4 pounds (1.8 kg) or under. With the commencement of the parcel service, people could now ship anything below 50 pounds (23 kg).

It didn’t take people long to realize that sending babies and young children in the mail was cheaper than purchasing train tickets. In 1913, the first baby was sent in the mail: 8-month-old James Beagle, who weighed 10 and 3/4 pounds, was sent from Glen Este, Ohio to his grandmother’s home in Batavia, a few miles away. The parents paid 15 cents for postage and $50 for insurance.

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