University Of Chicago Solves Indiana Jones Package Mystery

By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Dec 17, 2012 9:40PM

Photo by Grace Chapin, used with permission.

Last week, the University of Chicago Admissions Department had a bona fide mystery on their hands and were looking for clues to how a package addressed to Indiana Jones made it to their mail room. Well, the university found their answers and in the process helped lose and restore some of our faith in the United States Postal Service

U of C’s Admissions Department reached out to Lucasfilm (to see if the package was part of a viral marketing campaign) and Paul Charfauros, a man who specializes in making replica Raiders of the Lost Ark journals under the name Ravenbar. Charfauros, who lives in Guam, told the university he received a message from USPS indicating that a package he made for a buyer in Italy fell out of its external package and was lost in the mail.

Garrett Brinker, director of undergraduate outreach for the University of Chicago, told Wired the package was then routed to the university’s admissions department, even though the package contained fake postage and a Postal Service employee wrote in the ZIP code. Bully for the person who probably paid good money for one of Charfauros’ fakeries, but we’re going to work on drawing stamps onto our holiday card envelopes before we drop them in a mailbox this week.

Charfauros offered to let U of C keep the package in exchange for some university-branded wear.