Forgive Me, Post Office, For I Have Sent

In addition to Sepia Saturday, two things inspired this post:

I. Doug over at Crazy as A Cool Fox tagged me to participate in a meme. I don't usually participate in these, because this blog is supposed to be about postcards and other ephemera and not about me.  But, I told myself that it would be O.K. as long as I listed seven things about myself that are related to mail.

II. Matthew May from the U.K. emailed me about a book review in the New Yorker concerning an eccentric Englishman who sends himself (and lots of other crazy things) through the mail. This reminded me of some of the things I had posted over the years. It also reminded me of the ensuing guilt when the U.S. Post Office adopted strict mailing guidelines, which I was sure were precipitated entirely by my oddly-shaped letters and packages.

Back in the good old days, you could send virtually anything. A friend and I had a bit of a competition going to see what we could get the postal service to deliver. Here are seven of the items we mailed:

1. A candy bar (an Idaho Spud to be exact, the candy bar that made Boise famous)
2. A salad (the salad was arranged on a paper plate along with a plastic fork, knife, and a dressing packet. Another plate was placed on top and the edges were stapled.)
3. A mushroom commonly known as a puffball
4. A sandwich (saran wrapped)
5. An egg
6. A carrot
7. A box of cereal

The Post office was amazing. All of the items were delivered, with the exception of the egg.  My friend was disappointed that I didn't receive it, especially as the person behind him in line snarled and called him a communist.

I want to point out that I do not condone anything that makes work harder for the postman. Seriously, I am so appreciative of postal employees and the work they do. Unfortunately, as a youth I did not have this understanding.

How much to mail this?

Sit still, brother! I need to affix enough postage to get you to Grandma's house.

Don't even think about it!

Don't forget to look in on Sepia Saturday for some truly fine old photos by respectable folks.
Oh, and here's the book review that talks about the eccentric Englishman who sent himself through the mail. He was much worse than I ever was. New Yorker Review

Thoughts of You

Les Avants Funicular

This funicular has been running for almost 100 years near Geneva, Switzerland. It looks like some kind of 100-year celebration may be in the works.

Eugen sent this to his sister at the Moraine Hotel in Highland Park, Illinois in 1913. It reads:

Les Avants, 14/12/13

Your brother sends you the best wishes from here.

Eugen

It's still nice here!

If you go to Lake Geneva and want to ride the funicular, you can find out more here. You can also find out more about where you can go to hear Swiss alphorns.