Indiana Jones journal mystery solved

http://uchicagoadmissions.tumblr.com/post/38161122385/mischief-managed-for-those-of-you-who-have

by CesareBorgia • 14 years ago

229 47 14 years ago

uchicagoadmissions.tumblr.com

polyfractal2• 14 years ago

Mildly disappointing ending to what I hoped to be some epic story/gimick/whatever.

Amusing that the USPS thought the vintage (fake) Egyptian postage was real though

codva• 14 years ago

I'm not surprised at all. I have a relative who sends out Christmas cards every year using cancelled stamps from those 1000 stamps for a dollar stamp collector starter kits. He has been doing this for 15+ years. It is amusing though to get a Christmas card in 2012 covered in multiple 8 cent Eisenhower stamps.

Apparently stamp fraud is not a high priority issue at USPS.

meric• 14 years ago

Are those real, but used, Eisenhower stamps, or fake ones?

dredmorbius3• 14 years ago

I've seen uncanceled, but taped-on (adhesive had gone bad) stamped mail returned for invalid postage.

mdc• 14 years ago

The USPS thought the fake postage was real after the fake package came out of its properly-stamped wrapper once it was already in the USPS process stream. It's always easier to pass a fake at a point where everyone assumes the fake has already been verified.

jlgreco• 14 years ago

Now we just need someone to invent a gimmick disintegrating envelope. Stuff multiple letters with fake stamps into it, and mail several letters for the price of one!

andrewaylett• 14 years ago

I suppose you pretty much have to assume that once a package is in the system, it's valid, especially if it's got foreign stamps.

jetti2• 14 years ago

"Mildly disappointing ending to what I hoped to be some epic story/gimick/whatever."

I started to wonder if it was some sort of publicity stunt by Disney to get interest into a new Indiana Jones movie after buying Lucasfilm.

georgemcbay• 14 years ago

Unlike Star Wars, Lucasfilm doesn't outright own all of the rights to Indiana Jones. Disney would have to do deals with Paramount to do much of anything with Indiana Jones.

Something I hadn't previously considered is that given Disney does its own distribution, they probably have no need to use 20th Century Fox on the new Star Wars movies. Having a Star Wars movie that doesn't open up with the 20th Century Fox drumroll is going to be downright weird.

danilocampos• 14 years ago

Oh, I disagree completely. I love the serendipity of this story far more than if it were just a viral stunt on the part of Disney, U Chicago, or anyone else. Something entirely mundane became something extraordinary for everyone to enjoy.

I'm going to call that a win.

snogglethorpe2• 14 years ago

and the resolution is great too:

"Paul has graciously let us know that he will make the intended recipient a new journal, and that we are welcome to keep this one— thanks, Paul! It will find its home either in the Oriental Institute at UChicago or the Special Collections at the Regenstein Library because, as many have noted, “It belongs in a museum!”. "

It will be simply too cool if it ends up in the Oriental Institute!

polyfractal2• 14 years ago

That's actually a very good point. I rescind my original disappointment. It was a pretty cool story that emerged out of something as simple as a postal mishap.

akdetrick• 14 years ago

This article is missing an image of an old map with red lines connecting Italy, Guam, Hawaii, and Chicago.

bcherry• 14 years ago

this

Osmium• 14 years ago

How's this? http://i.imgur.com/P5MxB.jpg Courtesy of iPhoto (I appreciate it's technically incorrect, but I think it captures the spirit)

dredmorbius3• 14 years ago

Pretty good, though:

- Shortest route from Chicago to Rome would be west->east, not east->west.

- 1930s air travel/mail delivery would likely have been by DC-3 (introduced 1935). Early models had a range of 1000 miles, later extended in the DC-3A to 2100 miles. Military C47 A/B aircraft had a 1600 mile range. So you'd have to introduce a few more hops on the map.

- A package would more likely have traveled via ground route, mostly ship. A trans-Asiatic route would be highly unfeasible (or would make for another Indian Jones movie: "Delivery of the Misrouted Journal").

Still, nice touch.

draq• 14 years ago

Who has ordered his own replica journal?

DanBC• 14 years ago

For $200!!

(http://www.ebay.com/itm/Indiana-Jones-and-the-Raiders-of-the...)

The seller has sold a few of those, for between $150 and $200. Making thousands of dollars seems like a pretty good business.

tomflack• 14 years ago

There does seem quite a lot of work involved though, I wonder how long it takes him to make one.

collypops• 14 years ago

I think it's a great little package; the perfect gift for an Indiana Jones buff. Unless that Indiana Jones buff is also a graphic designer:

"This is amazing! All of the little details like the illustrations and photos make it look really authentic, and the letterheads...OH MY GOD, IT'S PAPYRUS!!! GET IT AWAY FROM ME!!!!"

ghc• 14 years ago

Seeing this resolution to the mystery made my day. It's refreshing to see that all this buzz was the result of a glorious postal mishap, not a concerted effort to hijack our attention with a viral marketing stunt.

mintplant• 14 years ago

I was hoping for a new Alternate Reality Game, along the lines of I Love Bees [1] or The Beast [2]. Advertising or not, some of this "viral marketing" can produce large, immersive narratives.

[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Love_Bees

[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Beast_(game)

rsingel• 14 years ago

I was initially underwhelmed, but on second thought, it turns out that crazy, huge system of machines, trucks and humans that routes letters and packages around the country is pretty amazing. Going to go with damilocampos on this one.

ekianjo2• 14 years ago

How can the contents of a package "drop" out of the package and then be routed to the wrong place? Sounds like 18th century postal service going on there...

genuine• 14 years ago

No, but it is Hawaii. They may not be backwards, but within a few days visiting there I saw people on the job at two different locations taking a pot break.

ekianjo2• 14 years ago

I would think they have rules about smoking in the workplace :)

lnanek2• 14 years ago

Boxes, packages, letters etc. can get ripped and shredded by processing machines and conveyor belts and truck doors, etc.. I've gotten remnants of destroyed letters delivered before. Given the huge amount of mail moving through the system, even a small percentage experiencing accidents can amount to a large number of damaged items. The insides of these things don't always stay inside all the way through their trips, basically.

LancerSykera• 14 years ago

An online community I used to frequent had a Christmas card exchange every year, with roughly 200 people participating. One year, someone's cards made it to almost nobody, because apparently the envelopes that came with the cards were garbage. I got a swell torn-up front of an envelope in a plastic bag in the mail, and so did most everyone else on the list.

mathattack2• 14 years ago

I had envelope issues with wedding invitations - a lot of people received empty envelopes.

mathattack2• 14 years ago

It's a great story. One of the things I'm curious about is the original use... What was it created for to begin with?

Indiana Jones journal mystery solved

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