Why did God send bears to mail kids?

That's not exactly the way it happened.

It all started in early 1913 when a couple in Ohio paid 15 cents to mail their baby boy to his grandmother's, a mile away. A few people heard about it and started mailing their kids, the most extreme being a six-year-old girl who traveled 720 miles.

The last child mailed was a three-year-old in 1915. When the postal superintendent found out, he…well…went postal on the local postmaster.

The postmaster had to think quick. Between 1913 and 1915, the postal service had enacted regulations prohibiting the mailing of children. He could lose his job! He made up a story about how he had arrived at the office that morning to be greeted by a bear. On the bear was a little girl. The bear explained that the girl needed to see her sick mother and if the postmaster didn't help, he'd regret it. The bear then produced a 15-cent stamp and the postmaster sent her on her way.

The superintendent didn't know what to think. Where did a bear get a stamp? He decided to visit the local game warden. The warden was just as confused but didn't seem too worried. He told the superintendent it wasn't against his regulations for bears to use the services of the local post office, but please let him know if he heard of bears mauling kids.

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