A diabolical hairbrush

June 4, 2020 9:55 AM

Since the dawn of written communications, missives sent by card or letter have been the source of both joy and pain for recipients. During times of epidemics, however, the mail is viewed with extra wariness. […] That’s as true today as it was in the late 19th century, when—before sanitizing sprays and disinfectant wipes—American post offices responded to persistent yellow fever epidemics with perforating paddles used in the fumigation of the mail.

Use of the paddles followed by fumigation with gasses like sulfur dioxide or formalin was widespread by the late 19th century. The practice proved both reassuring and annoying. “Your very kind letter—came here—punched as full of holes as your Donax sieve, and smelling of hellfire and brimstone—let a clean letter come from the pure of the Green Mountains and the cursed fools at the fumigating station seize it, punch it so that it is almost illegible, then pump an unbearable stink into it,” General F.E. Spinner, a former U.S. Treasurer, wrote to a Vermont friend in 1887.

posted by Johnny Wallflower (5 comments total)

All I can think of is the “preventative foomigation” line from Arachnophobia.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 10:07 AM on June 4, 2020

OK. So I first read that as “poodles”. (give me a break and consider the poster). Still I clicked. Everyone interested should read and spend some time with the material. This is a great jumping off point for an afternoon of research. Thanks JW.
posted by pipoquinha at 11:47 AM on June 4, 2020 [2 favorites]

The Family Ties TV movie now has far more depth than I had originally thought.
posted by Jessica Savitch's Coke Spoon at 2:37 PM on June 4, 2020

That is a cool thing I did not know about. Thank you!

I was shocked at our post office that they are still giving out lickable stamps instead of the sticker-backed ones at the moment. I know it's not a super likely source of infection (especially if they continue to take more than a week to deliver a package within my same city) but it would seem an easy fix to make just in case.
posted by lollusc at 10:26 PM on June 4, 2020

My postal carrier has not gotten this message apparently. She is really into hand.delivering.the.mail if we have any packages.

I know that what she is hoping to do is give me the packages and envelopes all at once instead of making a second stop at my mailbox, but I really don't need her to knock on my door and put mail directly into my hands three times a week.

So now we just hide when she comes by, predictably at lunchtime every day.
posted by aetg at 8:13 PM on June 5, 2020