The Englishman who posted himself and other curious objects - John Tingey

Reginald Bray became fascinated with the working of the Post Office and took to studying the Post Office Guide. He learned what the Post Office was prepared to deliver and how committed they were to ensuring that the post got through. Reginald discovered that the smallest thing that could be posted was a bee, and the largest, an elephant. This intrigued him and he decided to experiment by sending both ordinary and strange objects through the post, including a turnip, a bicycle pump, a bowler hat, a clothes brush, seaweed, even a rabbits skull. In each case, he wrote the address on the item, or a label attached to the item, applied the appropriate postage stamps and sent it through the post unwrapped. He eventually posted his Irish terrier and in 1900, Reginald arranged to have himself delivered by post to his home in Devonshire Road. This feat was recalled in an interview on the BBC radio program In Town Tonight in 1936, and prompted Churchmans Cigarettes to include a picture of Reginald in their series of cigarette cards featuring people who had appeared on that program. On the card Reginald is described as The Human Letter. He also mailed cards to challenging addressessome in the form of picture puzzles, others sent to ambiguous recipients at hard to reach destinationsall in the name of testing the deductive powers of the beleaguered postman. Over time his passion changed from sending curios to amassing the worlds largest collection of autographs, also