The 800-Pound Stamp Prank

Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Harvey recalls that a giant 1-cent concrete stamp, featuring Thomas Jefferson, was placed in the parking lot of the postal service's Terminal Annex in downtown L.A. as a prank back in 1979.

In the LA Then and Now column which appeared over the weekend, Steve pens, "The inefficiency and high rates of the U.S. Postal Service led La Crescenta artist Mike Wallace to create a giant 1-cent concrete stamp, complete with a visage of Thomas Jefferson, in 1979. He delivered it to the parking lot of the postal service's Terminal Annex in downtown L.A."

He goes on the write, "Wallace, who had originally constructed the postal designation as an art project at Cal State Northridge, marveled at how he and his confederates were able to deposit it so easily."

Wallace is quoted as saying, ""We were wearing hard hats and fluorescent vests so we would look official. I even had a clipboard."

According to Steve, "Wallace offered to take back the 800-pound stamp if no criminal or towing charges were assessed. The authorities agreed, apparently relieved to get it off their hands."

To read more about the caper, click here.

For more on Jefferson and the stamp pictured above, click here.