Letter Writers Alliance

Postal Worker Gifting

Around the holidays, it is acceptable and encouraged to give your regular postal person, either your local carrier or the friendliest person at your P.O., a holiday gift. It needn't be fancy, and in fact, shouldn't be because of the ethical guidelines involved. From the USPS website:

"While many Postal Service customers have traditionally thanked their mail carrier with gifts of cash during the holiday season, this practice puts our employees at risk of violating federal law.  The Standards of Ethical Conduct for Employees of the Executive Branch ("Standards"), specifies that Postal Service employees may not accept gifts from outside sources (including Postal Service customers) or gifts given to them because of their official positions. Postal Service employees are also prohibited from soliciting gifts from outside sources.

There are a number of exceptions and exclusions to the general gifts rule. Postal Service employees may accept the following items:

• Snacks and beverages that are not offered as part of a meal.
• Items with little intrinsic value (i.e., greeting cards, plaques, pens, coffee mugs, etc.).
• Perishable items (i.e., flowers, chocolates, cookies, etc.); if the items are clearly worth more than $20, employees should share them with others in the Postal Service workplace.
• Items with a market (retail) value of $20 or less.

Postal Service employees may not accept cash  - in any amount or form (bills, checks, money orders, gift cards) - from an outside source.

Armed with that knowledge, you should be able to properly tip your postie. Go forth and give generously!

National Postal Museum’s Annual Holiday Card Workshop

This Saturday (today!) and Sunday (tomorrow!) are the free holiday card making workshop days at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum. The event will be held from 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on both Saturday, December 7 and Sunday, December 8. The museum provides all the supplies- you just bring the mail magic! They'll have patterned papers, postage and rubber stamps, gems and other 3-D embellishments, special cut-out scissors, washi tape, stickers, markers of every color and more! If that doesn't sound like a party to you, then why are you even here? The workshop takes place in the museum’s lower-level Atrium which has had its halls decked out in the holiday spirit as well. If you're in the D.C. area, I highly recommend this free and family friendly fun time! I wish I were there!

 

Thinking of You Week

The week of September 23 - 29 has been branded "Thinking of You Week" and is a global effort to promote the sending of greeting cards. It's definitely sponsored and promoted by the Greeting Card Association, but hey, just like how we offer stationery but don't require you to use it, they don't mind if you're making your own cards. They just want you sending more of them. Shucks, we can get behind that!

 

There's a special postmark for the week (same as the one from the event last year and, regrettably, in spray) if you mail your cards from the U.S.P.S. Like all modern mail movements, there's some fun hashtags to use: #thinkingofyouweek, #sendacarddeliverasmile, #cardstories. If you needed a push to use those perfect cards instead of hoarding them and then forgetting that you have them (which may or may not be a statement from personal experience), this is as good a time as any to send them out and make someone's day!

 

There are people hosting various events, like Amanda, who is running mail art workshops in Dallas and D.C. Her picture is being used to illustrate this post; so you can see she's got a lot of good stuff to share. The hashtags have a lot of giveaways happening, as well as other promotions. Check it out. Send a card. Write more letters!

150 Years of Postcards

There's a certain coolness starting to creep in the weather around here. It makes me start to think of Autumn, even before Labor Day. We all know that October is always the best month. This year, October is made even greater as it marks the 150th anniversary of the postcard. Our compatriots of Postcrossing, who are definitely VIP (Very Into Postcards), have a website dedicated to celebrating this milestone. 

Ana from Postcrossing says:

It all started back in 1869 in Austria-Hungary, when Professor of Economics Dr. Emanuel Herrmann wrote an article on the Neue Freie Presse suggesting “a novel means of postal correspondence”. Despite the resistance at the time (“Wouldn’t the servants and the postman read the messages?!”), the Austrian Post decided to take a risk and give the novel idea of a “postcard” a try. The very first postcard was issued on October 1st 1869, a humble brown rectangle with space for the address on the front, and a short message on the back.

 

Fast forward to 150 years later, and postcards are still around, surprising and bringing joy to everyone that finds one hiding in their mailbox!  To celebrate 150 years of history and connection, events are being organized all around the world which include local gatherings of postcard enthusiasts, museum exhibitions, stamp launches and library events. 

 

Postcrossing is also organizing a global call-for-postcards, in which anyone can participate! All you need to do is to write a few words about what postcards mean to you. What's your earliest or fondest memory related to postcards?  What do you feel when you open your mailbox and there’s one there waiting for you?

 

Pour your feelings into a postcard and send it to:

150 Years of Postcards
Postcrossing — PO box 216 
EC Tavira
8800–999 TAVIRA
PORTUGAL

 

A selection of the received postcards will be showcased on an exhibition in October at the Universal Postal Union headquarters in Switzerland, and there are prizes for the best submissions (include your email address for a chance to win).

 

Join us in sharing our love for postcards with the whole world!"

For more about it, check out the Postcrossing blog, and you can check the page with more details here.

A Farewell Is In Our Future

On July 31st, 2020, the Letter Writers Alliance will no longer be an active organization. When we started the Alliance our only goal was for people to write more letters. After over a decade, we can safely say that we have achieved that objective. Along the way, we have gained friends, learned about so many different lives, explored new ways to reach out through the postal system, and had a more rewarding experience that just making stationery or greeting cards could ever have given us. We made connections and, in turn, the people making those connections made their own connections too. Where we were once part of a few proud voices championing the philosophy of joy in letters, there are now dozens of letter writing groups around the country and the world. We are always and forever going to be astounded by how much this small organization has been able to touch so many people. 

Our time leading the L.W.A. has been enlightening and rewarding in ways we never imagined. We thank you all so much for sharing in this community with us. The decision to close memberships has been a thoughtful one. Kathy and I have been discussing the right way to step back for a while. Losing our studio space, changing postal regulations, and shifting careers are all factors in this decision. Ultimately, we didn’t want to be in a situation where we were unhappy here. It is bittersweet to close, but we feel this is the right time. We also aren’t locking the door immediately. Think of this as the warning bell. 

What this means is that we will stop selling memberships to the Alliance in a tiered process. The physical membership kits will no longer be sold once when we run out of supplies. This is going to happen pretty soon, within about a hundred or so memberships. The digital delivery membership option will be available through December. Membership sales close December 31, 2019. The last day to place pen pal requests is December 31, 2019. After that date, you will still be able to access the shop and obtain downloads until July 1st, 2020. 

The L.W.A. will not longer be an active organization after July 2020. The final day to access your member account or any member downloads will be July 31st, 2020. That is exactly one year from today.

After that date, the website will become an archive of public information and our public downloads and book club newsletters will remain available. Our blog, Twitter, and Instagram will no longer update, but will remain as references. The shop will close, member log-in will be disabled and our email will only be checked monthly. 

With this closing, we hope that you will all continue the Letter Writers Alliance mission. It remains what it has always been–write more letters. Even after you can no longer join officially, anyone who loves letters will always be a member. We have always and will always love letters, the act of art through the postal system, and having been a part of this with all of you. Kathy and I are proud of the Letter Writers Alliance. We are so grateful to everyone who has been a member, everyone who has supported us, everyone who has written a letter. Thank you.

Sincerely, 

Donovan & Kathy

P.S. There’s a lot of time between now and then. Maybe I’ll be able to catch up on my backlog of mail by then, but probably not.

P.P.S. We tried to be as clear about things as possible, but here’s a timeline too. And if you have any questions or comments, you can leave them here or email us. You can mail them in as well, but that might take a while. I’m only up to mid-May in mail responses right now.

 

Farewell Timeline

2019

Aug 1:

• Physical memberships are limited; switch to digital only

Aug, TBA:

• Studio closing sale in Chicago

Dec 31:

• Pen Pal request deadline
• Membership sales deadline

2020

March 31:

• Last day to place custom orders (custom stamps, etc)

July 1:

• Last day to download purchased video workshops 

July 31: Letter Writers Alliance closes

• Last day to get Member-only downloads
• Last day to get your membership number from your online account

Aug 1:

• Website and social media accounts switch to archives of information
• Only public downloads and book club newsletters available
• Member login is disabled
• Shop email is checked only once a month

Squeezebox Press

Sometimes people like to ask me what the best part of the Letter Writers Alliance is and my answer is always that it is the people I have met through the mail. I am extremely fortunate to have gotten to know you all in your wondrous ways. It brings me great pleasure when a pen friend becomes a friend friend and I am so lucky to have so many friends. What's more, you all are so impressively talented. I'm always so pleased when I can showcase those talents to the rest of our Alliance.

The Squeezebox Press is run by the unparalleled Emma. She's a musician and artist and one of the most amazing people I've ever met. She's got great stationery and cards for sale that she creates on her press in Maine. I gave a number of them as holiday gifts this year. I'm not just impressed with the stationery. I'm over the moon with the things she's started to share on her Instagram. Check out this great tutorial for making an envelope! Look at her post on clever enclosures! This is what I love to see; people playing with mail and how it can connect us. 

Thanks for being a member, Emma. Thanks for reading everyone! If you've got a cool member to highlight, let us know in the comments or send me an email on them! I love spreading our positive influence!

A Feel Good Story for the Holiday

Postal carriers are important parts of the community. If you have any doubts of the veracity of that statement, I invite you to read this story about the retirement of Floyd Martin. He worked his route for 35 years and through generations of families. He was and is beloved for his kindness and care. Jennifer Brett reported on his last loop of his route and how the community turned out to thank him and show their appreciation for his service. Happy Memorial Day to all. Hopefully this story will remind you what this life is really all about.

Stamp Out Hunger

This Saturday, May 11th is the date for this year's Stamp Out Hunger food drive. This drive is the single largest single-day drive and over a billion pounds of food since its start in 1993. The National Association of Letter Carriers collected over 74 million pounds of food last year and hopes to do even better this year. You can help! To participate, just leave a bag of non-perishable food items out by your mailbox for your carrier to collect on May 11th. That means things like canned and boxed goods, pasta, rice and peanut butter. I don't know how much easier it can get to help people. You don't have to do anything but put stuff in a bag and leave it by the mailbox. Just call your post office to see if they are participating. According to the FAQ, don't worry if the food isn't collected on Saturday. They'll also pick up on Monday. Thanks to the hard-working and love-giving mail carriers for doing all the work!

World's Smallest Post Kickstarter

Earlier this month, we teased that there was something big on the horizon. Well, something big by way of something really, really small. The World's Smallest Post is looking to grow in the best way possible. You can be a part of this amazing mail movement. Check out their amazing Kickstarter for a storefront full of fantastic surprises! Also, they are having a FREE sidewalk pop-up event this weekend. Go see them on April 27th for the full Tiny Post Office experience! L.W.A. wants this to be a reality maybe more than the W.S.P. (Okay, probably not true, but it's very close.) I mean, how cool is that post office wall? How cool is that hot air balloon? How cool are these stamps by Michael Wertz?

It's all so very cool, folks. Let's make this dream come true already. Join us in pledging and send more (tiny) mail!

National Card & Letter Writing Month

This year, 2019, the Year of the Post Box, feels like a really good year for National Card & Letter Writing Month. I am seeing socials being organized in many cities. I am seeing so many letters being posted. I am seeing a true embrace of letter writing across our culture.

I'm very impressed with what I see going on over at the Constellation & Co. - Snail Mail Superstar. I could probably do a whole month of posts that just reference all the of the cool stuff that Sara has going on sharing her mail love with the world. Instead, I leave that link here for you to inspire your April. I plan to showcase a few other creative people and their plans for National Card & Letter Writing Month as well. 

How have you prepared? How will you celebrate? Let's all write more letters!

P.S. Awesome envelope hand lettering from @addressmedallas on Instagram who is hosting a letter social on the 7th!