Potatoes in the Mail

Novelty of Mailing Potatoes & Other Oddities

• Many are amused that USPS officially documents how to mail a bare potato; several vow to send potatoes (or yams) as gag “cards.”
• Related novelty items: coconuts, bricks, beach balls, plastic Easter eggs, flip‑flops, pumpkins, sea grape leaves, plywood postcards, beer coasters, loose books, and even shoes.
• There are commercial “mail a potato” services, though some note they just seem to repackage and use USPS.

Other Unconventional Mail Items & Experiments

• Multiple anecdotes of successfully mailing coconuts from Hawaii, bananas, book floppies, and even plywood wedding invitations.
• Links and stories about systematic experiments mailing bizarre items (cement blocks, lemons, a ski, water bottles, etc.), showing USPS often flexibly processes edge cases but refuses some (e.g., helium balloons).
• Historic stories: a bank facade built entirely from bricks mailed parcel post; moving entire households or computer labs via parcel post, Amtrak, Greyhound, or Canada Post monotainers.

Live Animals in the Mail

• USPS rules allow day‑old chicks, live queen bees (with attendant bees), some other animals, and even scorpions under strict packaging and labeling.
• Firsthand accounts of mailed chicks, bees, and ducks; workers sometimes call recipients for immediate pickup.
• Some describe the practice as cruel due to delays and deaths being treated as “expected loss,” while others mention staff informally rescuing imperiled animals.

Addresses, Postcodes, and ZIP Codes

• Discussion of highly specific postcodes in the UK, Ireland, Netherlands, Singapore, and US ZIP+4/11‑digit codes, with stories of mail delivered using only a name and postcode or even humorous descriptions.

Stamps, Costs, and Postal Economics

• Tips: buying large lots of older uncancelled stamps below face value; media mail and M‑bag services for cheap book shipping.
• Explanation of Forever stamps, stamp-collector overproduction, and stamps as unofficial prison currency.
• Technical rabbit hole on flat‑rate box weight limits, dense metals (lead, tungsten, osmium), and past abuse of “any weight” pricing, which likely led to today’s 70‑lb cap.

USPS Role, Junk Mail, and Perception

• Pushback against claims USPS is a “waste of money,” emphasizing it’s largely funded by postage and is the only universal US mail service.
• Complaints about USPS‑enabled advertising junk mail and limited ability to fully opt out.
• Overall tone: affection for the postal service’s odd flexibility, mixed with concern over junk mail and animal welfare.