The Life Box (Part 8)

When I lived in Venice, I rarely sent packages to my parents. The cost of mailing a parcel was not prohibitive, but meeting the requirements for overseas shipment was troublesome. The Italian Postal Service required boxes to be wrapped in a particular type of paper. The rules demanded that senders buy an approved brand of twine to secure the paper, and the guidelines specified that the twine must be secured by a peculiar, anachronistic, wax seal. I had to stop at several stores and offices to purchase the items that satisfied the requirements. Finally, packages sent to overseas locations has to be mailed from the central Venetian post office. For me, that meant that I couldn't ship parcels from the post office on the Lido, where I lived. I instead had to visit the big post office near the Rialto Bridge.

Current Italian Postal Service rules still mandate compulsory guidelines, but the present requirements seem less onerous.
 
What did I send when I prepared "care packages" for my Parents? I often packed up some hard candies (usually "Perugina Rossana") for my Dad, and for Mom, I selected knitting yarn. Italian yarn was a real bargain in the 1980s—I usually could buy enough Missoni or Fendi yarn for a sweater for under twenty dollars. (Comparison: In the States, today it costs over $200 to purchase yarn for a "designer" sweater.)

Venice, Italy, May 10, 1984. This package, worth $73.40, contained enough yarn with which to knit three sweaters and less than half a pound of candy. Today's customs form is similar.