Pigeon Post Alive and Well

Photo: Courtesy of the

Ever wish you could send your mail by carrier pigeon? Well guess what鈥ou can! Granted, the pigeons aren鈥檛 alive and they need postage, but you get the idea.

Back in 2011, Kathy Zadrozny, co-founder of the five-year-old , was researching what role these birds played during World War II and whether people still used them today. 鈥淚 was happy to see that carrier pigeons were still going strong,鈥 she wrote by e-mail. 鈥淚 wanted to see [whether] there was a way to mimic this delivery method without having to raise the birds.鈥 From there, the was born. The idea: Put your letter into the 鈥減ackage鈥 and it鈥檒l show up at the recipient鈥檚 doorstep as if flown by carrier pigeon.

The kit, which includes a plastic pigeon (shown above), message forms, label pouches, postage for one mailing, and instructions, costs $30. Refills cost another $10. To mail the bird yourself, you鈥檒l have to shell out $2.45. But don鈥檛 worry, there鈥檚 little question it鈥檒l fit in the blue USPS mailboxes. (Here鈥檚 if you鈥檙e still unsure.)

In fact, Zadrozny and LWA co-founder, Donovan Beeson, made sure the plastic pigeons could actually soar through the mail. 鈥淚t violates no postal regulations,鈥 reads. 鈥淭he pigeon is not hazardous, fragile, or perishable. It weighs under 13 oz., so it is legal to place into a post box. Just because it isn鈥檛 a rectangle doesn't mean it can鈥檛 be mailed.鈥

Zadrozny says the carrier pigeons are one of LWA鈥檚 bestsellers, and it鈥檚 easy to see why. Who wouldn鈥檛 love receiving actual mail by avian transporter? 鈥淚t was first a service where we wrote the message and mailed the pigeon for you. We quickly realized we were taking half the fun out of the concept,鈥 Zadrozny wrote. 鈥淭here is an odd sense of satisfaction in hearing the thump of the pigeon in the corner mailbox when you mail it off.鈥

Though we typically prefer not to think about birds thumping, in this case, we鈥檒l make an exception鈥攂ut only for the Pigeon Post. Besides, 爆料公社 editors love getting mail (wink, wink).

Editor鈥檚 Note: Shout out to and for tweeting about this awesome kit.