You can mail potatoes and coconuts without a box through the U.S. Postal Service 

While almost all other objects are required to be boxed up before being mailed, the U.S. Postal Service makes a specific exception for potatoes and coconuts. Both foods can be mailed unwrapped, as long as you write the destination and return address either directly on the product or on a label affixed to the skin or husk. Simply take the item to the post office, where it’ll be weighed to determine appropriate postage, stamped, and sent off to be delivered just like any other package.

The U.S. Postal Service doesn’t explicitly say why this is permitted, but there is some precedent for sending strange items through the mail, as long as they’re paid for and don’t endanger the carrier. In an experiment conducted for a 2000 edition of Annals of Improbable Research, researchers successfully mailed a ski, a deer tibia, a rose with a card tied to the stem, and other unusual objects.

Mailing coconuts is especially popular on the Hawaiian island of Molokaʻi, where the Hoʻolehua post office established the Post A Nut service in 1991, allowing people to mail coconuts to the mainland U.S. and around the world – no box required. Post-a-Nut ships roughly 3,000 coconuts annually (around 700 of which are sent to international locations), generating 40% of that post office’s total revenue. Dedicated businesses for mailing potatoes also exist, including Mail A Spud – a service that ships out russet potatoes adorned with personalized messages.

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‘the most effective way to do it, is to do it”

-amelia earhart 

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source credit: food and wine magazine, Bennett Kleinman photo: Valerie Loieseleuz