That's a great story!  Since this thread may not actually fit into some
people's idea of shell-related, I'll keep mine brief.  We once sent a parcel
to someone in the States, and they got the box - with every last piece of
content removed.
 
Kim C. Hutsell wrote:
 
> Tom,
>
> With all the various discussion about shells being lost in the mail, I
> thought you might enjoy hearing about a related incident that happened a
> few years back.
>
> In the summer of 1988, our son Jeremy went to Seattle for a visit. Of
> course, while he was there he took every opportunity to go shell
> collecting in Puget Sound and found some really spectacular specimens of
> Nucella lamellosa and Ceratostoma foliatum. But...being a teenager...he
> didn't want to spend his vacation time cleaning shells...just collecting
> them. So, he called me and asked if he could send them home to San Diego
> and asked if I would clean them for him. I was more than happy to do
> that.  I told him to freeze the shells, then to wrap them up air tight,
> use a big box with lots of packing and send them 'Next Day Air Mail'.
> That way they would be just about thawed, but still fresh. I'd even pay
> the postage for him.
> Well...Jeremy followed my instructions exactly. The post office, however,
> didn't honor the 'Next Day Air'. Five days later...I got a notice to pick
> up the package. When I went to get it, they couldn't find the package.
> Finally, they located the parcel where they'd put it out BEHIND the post
> office and brought it out to the front counter, wheeling it along in a
> cart at arm's length. The pungent odor of rotting shells immediately
> filled the room.
>         "What IS this?" the postal worker asked.
>         Seeing the size of the package and thinking about the extra money
> we'd paid for a service the post office failed to perform, I gave the
> clerk my most horrified expression. "OH, MY GOD...MY DOG!"
> My expression of horror was nothing compared to that of the one I got
> from the clerk.
>
> I never actually told them what was in the package but, for some
> reason...for a long time after that, they always called me immediately if
> I recieved any mail bigger than a postcard.
>
> Kim Hutsell
> San Diego