1. Welcome! Please take a few seconds to create your free account to post threads, make some friends, remove a few ads while surfing and much more. ClutchFans has been bringing fans together to talk Houston Sports since 1996. Join us!

DVD-by-mail service

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by VanityHalfBlack, Sep 14, 2023.

  1. VanityHalfBlack

    Joined:
    May 7, 2009
    Messages:
    18,226
    Likes Received:
    3,853
  2. kubli9

    kubli9 Contributing Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Mar 30, 2002
    Messages:
    3,048
    Likes Received:
    4,475
  3. Buck Turgidson

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2002
    Messages:
    86,067
    Likes Received:
    84,539
    I member those days
     
    VanityHalfBlack likes this.
  4. boomboom

    boomboom I GOT '99 PROBLEMS
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Sep 29, 1999
    Messages:
    12,274
    Likes Received:
    8,654
    Be sure to get one of these. No unwanted un-rewound fees.

    [​IMG]
     
  5. donkeypunch

    donkeypunch Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Dec 8, 2013
    Messages:
    19,482
    Likes Received:
    22,005
    Do i have to rewind these before I send them back?
     
  6. Xerobull

    Xerobull You son of a b!tch! I'm in!

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2003
    Messages:
    33,433
    Likes Received:
    31,025
    You're an interesting person.
     
    VanityHalfBlack likes this.
  7. K mf G

    K mf G Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Oct 10, 2007
    Messages:
    4,335
    Likes Received:
    1,716
    Can I order through my rotary phone?
     
  8. BMoney

    BMoney Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Feb 16, 2004
    Messages:
    17,445
    Likes Received:
    10,610
    Bring back milk delivery!
     
    Surfguy, Xerobull and VanityHalfBlack like this.
  9. Rashmon

    Rashmon Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Jun 2, 2000
    Messages:
    19,291
    Likes Received:
    14,513
    First they took away children by mail and now dvd's? I hate woke culture...

    A Brief History of Children Sent Through the Mail
    [​IMG]
    Uniformed Letter Carrier with Child in Mailbag Smithsonian Institution
    One of the most overlooked, yet most significant innovations of the early 20th century might be the Post Office’s decision to start shipping large parcels and packages through the mail. While private delivery companies flourished during the 19th century, the Parcel Post dramatically expanded the reach of mail-order companies to America’s many rural communities, as well as the demand for their products. When the Post Office’s Parcel Post officially began on January 1, 1913, the new service suddenly allowed millions of Americans great access to all kinds of goods and services. But almost immediately, it had some unintended consequences as some parents tried to send their children through the mail.

    “It got some headlines when it happened, probably because it was so cute,” United States Postal Service historian Jenny Lynch tells Smithsonian.com.

    Just a few weeks after Parcel Post began, an Ohio couple named Jesse and Mathilda Beagle “mailed” their 8-month-old son James to his grandmother, who lived just a few miles away in Batavia. According to Lynch, Baby James was just shy of the 11-pound weight limit for packages sent via Parcel Post, and his “delivery” cost his parents only 15 cents in postage (although they did insure him for $50). The quirky story soon made newspapers, and for the next several years, similar stories would occasionally surface as other parents followed suit.

    [​IMG]
    James Beagle was the first-known account of a child being sent through the mail. Public Domain
    In the next few years, stories about children being mailed through rural routes would crop up from time to time as people pushed the limits of what could be sent through Parcel Post. In one famous case, on February 19, 1914, a four-year-old girl named Charlotte May Pierstorff was “mailed” via train from her home in Grangeville, Idaho to her grandparents’ house about 73 miles away, Nancy Pope writes for the National Postal Museum. Her story has become so legendary that it was even made into a children’s book, Mailing May.

    “Postage was cheaper than a train ticket,” Lynch says.

    Luckily, little May wasn’t unceremoniously shoved into a canvas sack along with the other packages. As it turns out, she was accompanied on her trip by her mother’s cousin, who worked as a clerk for the railway mail service, Lynch says. It’s likely that his influence (and his willingness to chaperone his young cousin) is what convinced local officials to send the little girl along with the mail.

    Over the years, these stories continued to pop up from time to time as parents occasionally managed to slip their children through the mail thanks to rural workers willing to let it slide. Finally, on June 14, 1913, several newspapers including the Washington Post, the New York Times, and the Los Angeles Times all ran stories stating the the postmaster had officially decreed that children could no longer be sent through the mail. But while this announcement seems to have stemmed the trickle of tots traveling via post, Lynch says the story wasn’t entirely accurate.

    “According to the regulations at that point, the only animals that were allowed in the mail were bees and bugs,” Lynch says. “There’s an account of May Pierstorff being mailed under the chicken rate, but actually chicks weren’t allowed until 1918.”

    [​IMG]
    One of several articles dated June 13, 1920 that say the Post Office will no longer let children be sent through the mail. Los Angeles Times, ProQuest Historical Newspapers
    But while the odd practice of sometimes slipping kids into the mail might be seen as incompetence or negligence on the part of the mail carriers, Lynch sees it more as an example of just how much rural communities relied on and trusted local postal workers.

    “Mail carriers were trusted servants, and that goes to prove it,” Lynch says. “There are stories of rural carriers delivering babies and taking [care of the] sick. Even now, they’ll save lives because they’re sometimes the only persons that visit a remote household every day.”

    Luckily, there are more travel options for children these days than pinning some postage to their shirts and sending them off with the mailman.

    [​IMG]
    The last known account of a child being sent through the mail. Public Domain
     
    pmac, VanityHalfBlack and Ottomaton like this.
  10. droxford

    droxford Member

    Joined:
    Oct 26, 2001
    Messages:
    10,108
    Likes Received:
    1,565
    What's a DVD?
     
    No Worries and VanityHalfBlack like this.
  11. Xerobull

    Xerobull You son of a b!tch! I'm in!

    Joined:
    Jun 18, 2003
    Messages:
    33,433
    Likes Received:
    31,025
  12. SuraGotMadHops

    Joined:
    Nov 10, 2009
    Messages:
    5,613
    Likes Received:
    6,005
    VanityHalfBlack and Xerobull like this.
  13. Kemahkeith

    Kemahkeith Member
    Supporting Member

    Joined:
    Mar 27, 2018
    Messages:
    1,229
    Likes Received:
    2,005
    I wonder how big the Christy Canyon selection is?
     
  14. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Contributing Member

    Joined:
    Dec 5, 2001
    Messages:
    43,386
    Likes Received:
    25,392
    Would it be weird to sniff those dvds and expecting it to smell like Blockbuster?

    Only if you're kind.
     
    VanityHalfBlack likes this.
  15. Buck Turgidson

    Joined:
    Feb 14, 2002
    Messages:
    86,067
    Likes Received:
    84,539

Share This Page

  • About ClutchFans

    Since 1996, ClutchFans has been loud and proud covering the Houston Rockets, helping set an industry standard for team fan sites. The forums have been a home for Houston sports fans as well as basketball fanatics around the globe.

  • Support ClutchFans!

    If you find that ClutchFans is a valuable resource for you, please consider becoming a Supporting Member. Supporting Members can upload photos and attachments directly to their posts, customize their user title and more. Gold Supporters see zero ads!


    Upgrade Now