19 Feb 2014. Charlotte May Pierstorff (May 12, 1908 – April 25, 1987) 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]
On February 19, 1914, then 5 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 48.5 pounds 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 the exception of bees.[8]