Pat Moser of King in North Carolina once sent the trunk of a 75-year old tree with a horseshoe embedded inside it. It was mailed as part of Ripley’s Believe It Or Not strange mail competition. The item weighed 19 pounds and was not parceled up but had the address and postage directly on it.
Do you want to connect with a loved one who lives far away? Read on for 10 fun things to send in the mail.
1. A Wooden Postcard
A postcard cut from a board or plank of wood makes an excellent fun thing to post. Cut it to size and mark one side up like a conventional postcard. Use a black marker to draw address lines and a line to separate an area for your message.
Even with the rising costs of postage, the mail is good value fun. Fix a stamp to the address side of the wooden card.
The “picture” side can be an opportunity for you to do some creative work. Carve a simple scene or use colored markers to draw a picture. Do both if you feel especially creative.
A wooden card is appropriate for a fifth wedding anniversary, traditionally celebrated with a wooden gift. It’s also a great opportunity for a message with terrible puns.
“I thought I wood send you a postcard.” “Wood you please write back?” “Wood you be my Valentine?”
2. A Ball
Put an address label and the correct postage on a ball and see if it gets to its destination. You could even start an exchange of balls with a friend.
If you send a baseball, perhaps they can send a soccer ball. Work your way through all the ball sports. See how many different types of sports ball you can send.
If a ball is big enough you could even write a cheeky message to the mail carrier. Ask them not to drop the ball.
3. A Rock
When you visit a beach or mountain top you may like to have a small souvenir of the place. A stone or rock from a location is an interesting way of literally keeping a piece of the place with you. You could even send a souvenir through the post.
Attach an address or write one directly on to a rock. Attach the appropriate postage and send the rock off into the postal system. Receiving a rock from a specific location in the mail is a unique way of sharing a place with someone.
This is meaningful if the rock can be identified with the place. A rock from the Pacific shore, sent to a friend on the east coast is a way of crossing the continent.
If you are on vacation in the Rockies, sending a friend a rock can have much more resonance than a postcard with a picture of a mountain. Anybody can easily look up a picture of a mountain in the Rockies on the internet. Having an actual rock is so much more special.
4. Some Candy
A gift of candy is a conventional thing to mail someone for a birthday or other celebration. That doesn’t make it a great treat to receive in the mail.
Better still, send a Piñata, full of candy. The crazier the design the better. Imagine the surprise of your friend when they see the mail carrier walking up the path with a multi-colored burro piñata under their arm.
5. A Bottle
Letters don’t always get sent in envelopes. Since sailors first got shipwrecked on desert islands, they’ve sent messages sealed in bottles. The hope is that somebody will discover the bottle, read the message, and send a rescue party.
You could try to send a message in a bottle through the mail. This might be ideal if your message is about asking a friend to visit you. You could tell them that you are feeling marooned and need some company.
For more adventuresome fun, enclose a treasure map. The map could show the location of some treasure you have hidden. The treasure could be some candy, a piece of jewelry or even a stash of coins.
6. A Boomerang
When you throw a boomerang, if you do it right, it should come back to you. The weirdly shaped Australian artifact is famous for this returning trick. What happens when you mail one?
Try mailing a boomerang and find out if the receiver sends it back. It would be funny to wrap the boomerang before mailing it. Of course, you should make no effort to conceal its distinctive shape.
7. A Potato
If you visit Idaho you must mail a potato back home to a friend. It’s a much more interesting way of informing someone of your vacation destination than a postcard. You can even write on the skin with a marker.
The official state vegetable of Idaho is the potato. With 13 billion pounds of potatoes grown every year, they won’t miss one or two in the mail.
8. A Wooden Spoon
The spoon end of a wooden spoon makes the perfect location to write an address and fix stamps. Sending a wooden spoon to someone could mean several things.
It could mean you would like to “spoon” with them, meaning to have a kiss and a cuddle. It could be in recognition of their cooking skills.
It could be a light-hearted accusation that they have been stirring things up and fomenting conflict. It’s probably wise to reserve this for people who can take the joke.
9. Disposable Camera
Post someone a disposable camera and invite them to take photos of their everyday life and return the camera to you. In these days of immediate digital gratification, a disposable camera can be a fun old-school photography experience.
Another twist on the disposable camera mailing idea is to ask the recipient to take one photo and mail the camera on to another friend. After all the photos are taken have the last person mail the camera back to you.
Once you get the camera back have all the photos developed as digital images and post them on the internet for all to see. This can turn out to be a fascinating art project or a random collection of nonsensical snapshots.
10. A Hat
Mail a hat with the advice to get a hat if you want to get ahead. Ideal for corporate climbers, graduating students or cap wearers who could do with a change of headgear.
Fun Things to Send in The Mail
These fun things to send in the mail illustrate how great it is that we still have a mail service. Even in times of email and instant messaging, it’s great to be able to send and receive physical mail.
Here are some more amazing things to do.