I haven't seen this addressed in other forums. Perhaps most of you already know this but for those who don't....
If you're like me and need free sturdy boxes for packing, moving, or shipping, the first and usually only place you head to is the liquor store. Boxes are aplenty and even though most are too big for Trail maildrops, I found some good ones. I also had 2 non-liquor boxes.
So today I packed up my 4 maildrops for my upcoming
Allegheny Trail thruhike and headed to the PO where I learned something: The USPS forbids shipping things in alcohol boxes. No, not alcohol as in denatured for stoves; any boxes with the markings of alcoholic beverages including beer and wine as well as the hard stuff.
I was lucky in that the clerk allowed me to tape over all the words & pictures on the 2 illegal boxes. Fortunately, I had the tape - dark brown, not clear - to cover the offending material. In response to my question "Why - there's no alcohol in those boxes?" the answer was "You and I know that, but no one else does."
Next time, I'll get the boxes from the drug or grocery store.