Charlotte May Pierstorff Explained

Charlotte May Pierstorff
Birth Date:	May 12, 1908
Known For:	Being shipped through the U.S. Mail

Charlotte May Pierstorff (May 12, 1908 – April 25, 1987), American girl who was shipped alive through the United States postal system by parcel post on February 19, 1914.^{[1] [2] [3]} After the incident, parcel post regulations were changed to prohibit the shipment of humans.^[4]

In 1997, Michael O. Tunnell wrote a children's book, Mailing May, revolving around May's childhood.^[5]

Mailing

On February 19, 1914, then five-year-old Charlotte May Pierstorff was mailed from Grangeville, Idaho to Lewiston, Idaho to visit her grandmother C. G. Vennigerholz, as this was cheaper than buying a train ticket. Charlotte, who weighed at the time, rode in the mail car with a 32¢ stamp on her coat .^[6]

Leonard Mochel, May's mother's cousin and railway postal clerk, accompanied her during the trip and delivered her to her grandmother's house.^[7]

This event indirectly caused the United States Post Office to bar all humans and live animals from mail delivery (with few exceptions, bees and day-old poultry amongst them).^{[8] [9]}

External links

• Postal Museum page
• Michael O. Tunnell's Mailing May

Notes and References

1. Web site: 5 Stories of People Delivered as Cargo . miss-cellania . Mental Floss . July 15, 2013.
2. Web site: Please, Mr. Postman, Look and see, if there’s a letter in your bag for me… . July 8, 2013 . Books, City Library . Manchester City Library . July 15, 2013.
3. Web site: Mailing May and Mailing Me! . February 24, 2010 . Not Just Cute . July 15, 2013.
4. Web site: Parcel Post: Delivery of Dreams . Smithsonian Libraries . February 20, 2014.
5. Web site: Books . March 15, 1998 . Betsy Groban . New York Times . July 15, 2013.
6. The Emmett index. [volume] (Emmett, Idaho), 26 March 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
7. Web site: Lewis . Danny . 2016-06-14 . A brief history of children sent through the mail . Smithsonian.com . 2021-09-15 . In the early days of the parcel post, some parents took advantage of the mail in unexpected ways .
8. Shoshone journal. [volume] (Shoshone, Idaho), 27 Feb. 1914. Chronicling America: Historic American Newspapers. Lib. of Congress.
9. Publication 52 - Hazardous, Restricted, and Perishable Mail.