A brief history of children sent through the mail (2016)

Perceptions of Past Trust and Risk

• Some see “mailing children” as evidence of higher societal trust; others argue people simply accepted greater everyday risks (disease, accidents, war), so this didn’t feel unusually dangerous.
• Commenters note humans normalize large, known risks (historical child mortality, modern car deaths) while still trying to mitigate them.
• Several point out that freakish historical stories aren’t representative; unusual behavior has always existed.

Community, Familiarity, and Rural Context

• Many stress that postal workers then were not anonymous: in small, stable communities, the mail carrier was a known, long‑term figure embedded in local social networks.
• That makes the practice closer to putting a child on a school bus with a known driver than “boxing up” a kid for strangers.
• The mailing stories are framed as rural phenomena where everyone knew everyone.

Changing Media, Fear, and Privacy

• Modern news and social media amplify rare tragedies, increasing fear and judgment (“bad parent” narratives) and possibly reducing trust.
• There’s nostalgia for eras when home addresses and phone numbers were openly listed; younger people find that level of exposure shocking, even as equivalent or worse data is online via brokers.

Child Safety, Mortality, and Trauma

• High historical child mortality is cited as context: the incremental risk of mailing a child might have felt minor.
• Long, heated subthread on mental health:
  • Some wonder if past “just deal with it” attitudes were healthier; others argue unresolved trauma produced intergenerational damage and poor parenting.
  • Debate over how often therapy helps vs. creates “false memories” or pathologizes normal stress.
  • Consensus leans toward individualized support and acknowledging trauma, while warning against fads.

Ethnic/Cultural Homogeneity and Social Trust (debated)

• One line of argument claims trust tracks racial/cultural homogeneity and cites Rome and post‑1965 US immigration.
• Multiple replies challenge this as oversimplified or racist:
  • Point to homogeneous but low‑trust or violent societies (Mexico, Greece), and diverse but high‑trust ones (Canada, EU).
  • Suggest familiarity, institutions, inequality, and norms about individual vs. collective responsibility matter more than race.

Modern Parallels and Institutional Services

• Unaccompanied minor services on planes, trains, and buses are noted as current analogs: paying institutions to safely chaperone kids.
• Some argue we traded communal trust for personal freedom and choice, creating a tension: high trust implies constraints on individual behavior.

Postal System Abuses and Oddities

• Commenters enjoy other creative early‑Parcel‑Post hacks: mailing bricks to build a bank, and today’s ability to mail odd single items (bricks, potatoes, beach balls).
• Current USPS rules (weight limits, rules on animals) are discussed; day‑old and adult birds can be mailed, but not people.

Humor and Cultural References

• Thread includes jokes about “totes not tots,” mailmen fathering babies, and references to children’s books (Mailing May, Flat Stanley), Orphan Trains, and self‑shipping stunts, framing the history as both charming and disturbing.