The Letter Exchange

Prices for stamps on mail sent to Lex for forwarding will apparently go up as of July 12. The new prices will likely be 82 cents for First Class, 65 cents for postcards, and $1.75 for mail going to other countries. The increases still need to be approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission - that's not absolutely certain, as an increase was denied several years ago, but approval is highly likely. If you use Forever stamps the only change will be when you buy them, but if you use a variety of older stamps with printed denominations, you'll want to know the new totals to be aiming at.

Samuel Richardson was the author of several famous early epistolary novels, such as Clarissa and Pamela. Of course, he also wrote personal letters; here’s an article about a collection of letters to friends intended to improve their moral conduct. Are these real letters or more fiction? Allegedly they’re real, although we haven’t been able to find proof with a brief web search. The article also includes a few humorous excerpts from more recent letter writers.

Here's an article about postcards - the "perfect balance" between a quick email and a leisurely letter. Most of the article explores how the author began to have postcards and why he began to set them free, as he calls it, neither activity having been premeditated.

Here's an article about a historical document and autograph dealer that finds and sells historical letters. There's more discussion of the dealer than of the letters, but some letters by famous people, including John Hancock and Ben Franklin, are pictured.

There are lots of articles these days about young people writing letters, but here's one about even younger people - kids. It's largely focused on the USPS, with a number of interesting facts and a downloadable history booklet aimed at kids, and the article author also has a couple of free images that can be downloaded and printed.

Periodically there are reports of mail (most often postcards, it seems) that arrives very late, decades after it was mailed, and often the intended recipient has died by that time. By contrast, here's an article about postcards that arrived after the sender had died - and that was deliberate.

Want to help deliver mail to CInderella or a Wicked Witch? Now you can at London's Postal Museum, during the exhibition of artwork from the book The Jolly Postman, on show for the rest of this year.

Sounds like a quote from one of the many recent articles that criticize texting and extol slower means of communication, doesn't it? Well, it's in a recent article by a student at Bowdoin College in Maine, but she's quoting from an 1858 column in The New York Times referring to the telegraph.

Ever wonder why it was the recipient who paid to get a letter instead of the sender, the way it is now? (We have.) Here's an article about the history of U.S. stamps that gives an explanation, which involves sinking ships and other impediments to the travel of mail from writer to reader.

All out of stationery? No problem, if your stylus drawer is well-stocked. You might not want to use your favorite pen to inscribe your messages, though...

A couple of blog entries ago we mentioned a pen pal exchange between cities in two different countries that share the same name. Here's an article about another program, this one connecting children in the two places where a rare songbird spends summers and winters.

Increasingly there are articles about an upsurge in writing letters in our digital age - and this one is more detailed than some, beginning with a brief decription of the history of letter writing. It also notes that people today are interested in the creative possibilities of letters, including mail art and other ways to personalize communication.

Looking for a way to increase connections for people in a small town in Nova Scotia, the owners of a business that includes a post office as well as a grocery and cafe came up with the idea of a pen pal exchange with people in a city (with almost 1,000 times the population) in England - both communities are named for a Medway River and have a tradition of shipbuilding.