History of Sorts

Once-upon-a-time, it was legal to mail a baby in the United States. It happen more than once and by all accounts, the mailed tots arrived no worse for wear. Yes, “baby mail” was a real thing.

On January 1, 1913, the then Cabinet-level U.S. Post Office Department—now the U.S. Postal Service—first started delivering packages. Americans instantly fell in love with the new service and were soon mailing each other all sorts of items, like parasols, pitchforks and, yes, babies.

Yes, there were some parents who attempted — and succeeded — in sending their real, live children across the country by way of the Parcel Post. Most surprisinly? All of the children made it, unharmed.

Just a few weeks after Parcel Post began, an Ohio couple named Jesse and Mathilda Beagle “mailed” their 8-month-old son James to his grandmother, who lived just a few miles away in Batavia. According to Lynch, Baby James was…