2019-06-19 Wed

Hoolehua Post Office’s Post-a-Nut Program is a very unique and bizarre tradition of this tiny Hawaiian post office at Molokai, Hawaii.

Sending postcards, letters, gifts etc. are too ‘mainstream’ for this post office. Hence, this rural post office has come up with this unusual mailing programme to treasure memory of this place in a very unusual way. Created by Margaret Keahi-Leary, Post-a-Nut program was in effect since the year 1991.

The Former Postmaster of Hoolehua wanted to provide an unusual way for residents and visitors to cherish a part of this beautiful place in Hawaii. Hence, Post-a-Nut has expanded over the years to become a ‘must-do’ activity for visitors to the island. Instead of mailing postcard or a letter, visitors are encouraged to post a coconut to destinations like the Antarctic, Easter Island, Iceland, Kathmandu, Kazakhstan, Namibia and Zermatt in the Swiss Alps

It costs between $12 and $20 in postage to mail a Post-a-Nut coconut, depending on its weight. The customer pays only for the postage to mail the coconut. The coconuts are decorated by the visitors and then affixed a postage stamps and an agricultural inspection stamp.

Hoolehua Post Office mails around 3,000 coconuts annually and they take a pride in this innovating idea.

Image Courtesy: https://uspsblog.com