The Most Awkward Note

Never think, because you cannot easily write a letter, that it is better not to write at all. The most awkward note that can be imagined is better than none…

~Emily Post, 1922

I found this quote on A Month of Letters and it struck a chord.  I sometimes delay writing letters because I feel the need to create The Perfect Letter.  What is The Perfect Letter?  Who knows?!  Despite aspiring to it, I can’t even define what it is I have this notion I “ought” to be creating.  This is why the the idea of an awkward letter being an appreciated gesture appeals to me.  And to take Emily’s thought a step farther, I’d say that the perfection of a letter is likely best determined by the recipient rather than the sender.  Therefore,  any letter has the potential to be perfect…except for the one that is never sent.

To encourage myself not to put writing on hold until the days I feel capable of perfection (they are so few and far between), I’ve signed up for A Month of Letters, which invites participants to write a letter a day for the month of February.  Having done–and loved–a 30 Day Challenge last October (the end result of which was the beginning of this very blog you are reading), I’m looking forward to success and enjoyment with this month-long letter writing challenge.  Intrigued?  Take a look at the details and join the fun if it appeals to you!

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Sunday 7: Postcard Projects

How do you feel about postcards?  Are you in the “just for vacations” camp?  Do you use them as a postal equivalent to texting?  Or do you not give them much thought at all?

I am totally taken in by the tiny bag of Salt Lake salt that is sewed on to the edge of this postcard from Salt Lake City, UT. I bet it was a popular tourist pick and sold well in all its gimicky glory.

In the history of postal systems, postcards are a relatively new innovation.  They came into being in the 1870s and quickly became popular as a way to keep in touch, acknowledge new acquaintances, and share travel stories.  By the early 1900s, postcards had become big business in the United States; in 1905, postcards were reportedly mailed at a rate of over 2,000,000 per day!  Curt Teich became the first person to make a fortune off of the production of postcards with a company that transcended all four eras of postcards: the Golden Age, the White Border Era, the Linen Era, and the Chrome Era. (What? Were you not up on the fact that the humble postcard’s history was divided into eras?  You know, it was news to me, too!)  At the height of production the Curt Teich Company employed over 1,000 workers to run the company’s 40 postcard presses.  During WWI, patriotic-themed postcards were sent by those on the homefront to soldiers who, in return, sent home postcards depicting carefully constructed, staged, and sanitized snapshots of the war.  The same era saw the rise of the scantily clad woman as a popular postcard motif (though these cards were less likely to actually be sent through the post).  Over the 20th century, postcards continued to play a role in correspondence and the practice of deltiology, the collection and study of postcards, really took off.  In addition to appealing to collectors, historic postcards provide a fascinating glimpse into the social history, trends, changing mores, and humor of bygone eras.

Although postcards are no longer being sent at the volume they were a century ago, they shouldn’t be ignored as a way to stay in touch, reach out, and even do some good in the world.  If you want to move beyond the “Greetings from…” variety of postcards, try one of these projects!

7 Postcard Projects

1. Orphaned Postcard Project.  PostMuse is inviting people to adopt postcards from her international collection.  She’ll send you the postcard you select, then you write her a note and post it back to her.
2. Adopt Penguin Books Postcards.  Emilie of Winnie’s Girl was inspired by PostMuse to run her own postcard adoption program.  She is sending out postcards from a collection of 100 postcards featuring the covers of Penguin Books titles.  Perfect for those of you who are avid readers!
3. Pet Postcard Project.  A postcard project to help feed homeless pets.  You create a postcard and send it in.  At the end of the current campaign the postcards are tallied and the sponsor donates to the chosen animal shelter.  The more postcards received, the more food and other supplies for homeless pets!
4. Postcrossing.  Joining this community of international postcrossers is easy and once you send a postcard, you can look forward to receiving one.  To date, 9,930,321 postcards have been received thanks to this project!
5. Postsecret. Started as a community art project, Postsecret has grown into a global phenomenon.  Share your secret anonymously via handmade postcard.
6. dawdlr.  “Dawdlr is a global community of friends and strangers answering one simple question: what are you doing, you know, more generally?“  Put your answer on a postcard and join the community.
7. Monday Morning Postcards.  Start a personal postcard project by following in the footsteps of Tara Austen Weaver, aka Tea, and committing to write at least one postcard a week.

If you’re in the U.S. and feeling inspired to send a postcard, remember that USPS rates have just gone up.  Even with the 3¢ jump on postcard stamps, it’s still a bargain to be able to make someone’s day for 32¢ and a little bit of your time.  For more info on the updated USPS rates, check out The Missive Maven’s post.

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Sources* for Info about the History of Postcards:

Kelly, Megan. (2009, Nov). Curt Teich. Antiques & Collecting Magazine, 114(9), 20-25. Retrieved from MasterFile Premier.

McCulloch, Ian. (1998, Apr/May). The postcard war. Beaver, 78(2), 4. Retrieved from EBSCO History Reference Center.

Oren, A. (1944, July 29). Postcard parade. Saturday Evening Post, 217(5); 24-37. Retrieved from MasterFile Premier.

*How can I afford to access these resources?  Like most public libraries, mine has a virtual collection that includes access to all sorts of premium resources…all available for the cost of a library card, which is FREE.  Public libraries are fantastic!

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Because Saying Thank You Is Fun

I am a firm believer in thank-you notes.  Acknowledgement and appreciation are just plain important.  This year I was inspired to draw several of my thank you notes!

Does this amuse you? It cracks me up!

Yes, that's right, I got a year's supply of laundry detergent. It was exactly what I wanted!

I am pleased to report, the recipients of my thank-yous were greatly amused.  Am I a brilliant artist?  No.  But do I have lots of fun with markers!  And you can, too, if it strikes your fancy.  Next time you want to express your gratitude, try doing it colorfully.  You’ll be sure to make an impression.

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A-Z of U.K. Mailart

Look!  I’ve been working on one of my Things to Do in 2012:

My entry for Positively Postal’s A-Z of U.K. Mailart Competition is just about ready to be sent!  I hadn’t water colored in ages, but this was a lot of fun.

If you’re interested in entering, you still have time.  Entries will be accepted until January 31st, 2012.

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Guest Post: Other People’s Mail

I was recently telling Lindsay, poet and blog-keeper at Goose Hill, about several books of collected correspondence I’ve read in the past few months.  She responded by telling me about her favorite collections of correspondence.  I enjoyed what she had to say and thought that you would, too, so I asked if she would guest post on Scribbling Glue.  And to my delight, she agreed!

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Other People’s Mail

Guest Blogger: Lindsay Lusby

After I read Words in Air: The Complete Correspondence of Elizabeth Bishop & Robert Lowell, I knew I needed to find an old manual typewriter. The aesthetic of their letter-writing process bleeds into the content of their correspondence. There’s the sound of the keys hitting the ink ribbon and the paper like a piano. The smell of metal and ink. I was smitten.

There is a whole genre of books out there chronicling the correspondence of famous friends, especially literary ones; and I have just begun delving into it. I began reading Words in Air because Elizabeth Bishop is my all-time favorite poet. And reading her letters with fellow-poet Robert Lowell was like getting to eavesdrop on a lifetime of their conversations together. It felt like a privilege.

Then recently, there was another collected correspondence published to which I was also very drawn: Floating Worlds: The Letters of Edward Gorey & Peter F. Neumeyer. I am also a big fan of writer and illustrator Edward Gorey. And I found my reading of this compilation to be a similar experience to Words in Air: thrilling to be included in this secret world shared by two intimate friends and also comforting in the day-to-dayness of it. I found the same qualities I loved about each of these writers (and artists) that I admired in their published work, but it was tempered by the chores of practical living.

Both of these volumes also included facsimiles of some of the actual hand- and type-written letters, and in the case of Gorey and Neumeyer, some of Gorey’s illustrated envelopes.

But even beyond these bits of ephemera (which I love!), there is something in these books (and others like them) that can’t be found in biographies or even autobiographies of these literary figures I admire. Interaction. Intimacy. These unpolished words were not written for anyone but the other letter-writer to read. It’s the writer (or artist) in his or her natural habitat.

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Lindsay Lusby graduated from Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland with a B.A. in English. Now, she works at her local public library and a nifty new bakery. In her spare time, she writes poetry on her typewriter, sews thingamajigs, drinks tea, dabbles in letterpress printing and bookbinding, browses through used bookstores, and naps with her cats (and sometimes with her dog). Her poems have appeared in The Coachella Review and are forthcoming from Moon Milk Review.  She blogs at Goose Hill.

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National Letter Writing Week

I just learned that this week is National Letter Writing Week.  I admit, I had been unaware that such a week existed.  Now that I’m in the know, it seems fitting to celebrate.

Join me?

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Sunday 7: Things To Do in 2012

I’m not much for New Year’s resolutions, but I do like the idea of having a focus for the year.  For 2012, I’m going for turning ideas and intentions into actions.

How does this relate to Scribbling Glue and letter-writing in general?  Well, I often come across or dream up creative opportunities and think, Ooooooo, I want to try that!  But I don’t always get beyond the thought and into the fun of making or doing something new.  This year, though, I’m going to do a lot more creating and trying things!

Here are 7 projects I plan to tackle:

1. Positively Postal’s A-Z of The U.K. Mail Art Project.  Scott Thomson of Positively Postal is currently running a neat mail art project/competition.  I need to hop to it and create a piece, though, since my entry needs to be in England by the time the competition ends on January 31st.
2. Letter-Writing Social.  As I mentioned before, I love the idea of hosting a letter-writing social.  This is exactly the sort of idea that I think about and don’t make happen.  This year I’m going to change that!
3. Writing an Epistolary Story.  A dear friend and I have decided to co-write a story for our own amusement.  She proposed that we each take a persona and write the story in the form of letters exchanged by our characters.  A similar idea had been in my mind since I recently read (and thoroughly enjoyed) the Regency Magic trilogy, co-authored by Patricia C. Wrede and Caroline Stevermer.  The first book in that series grew out of an in-character letter-writing game the two authors played.  This is going to be fun!
4. Cork Stamps.  There is something delightful about stamping things.  Also, I see lots of potential for making and gifting them to friends.
5. Stamp Collage Ornament Tags.  This is a cool way to re-use stamps.
6. National Postal Museum.  I’ve wanted to visit the NPM for quite a while.  2012 is the year I make it there!
7. Do More Scribbling.  Sending letters, writing notes, making cards–this is going to be a joyful undertaking.
   

   A fresh page to begin recording my 2012 Letters Sent.

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