You've Got Snail Mail

Compulsive Mail Checker

Do you remember when stamps used to be 25 cents? I was 9 years old and I found mail to be so exciting. I knew what time the mail arrived and as soon as the mailman drove away I would run to the mailbox and bring the stack of bills and junk mail in. I never got any mail addressed to me but I settled for anything addressed to Resident. Publishers Clearing House was my best friend. It's a shame only old people won. I really thought I had a chance.

As I grew older and gained friends in school, I would occasionally get a postcard in the mail. In high school, we traded notes folded into origami during passing period. In college, distance became a challenge and we resulted to dropping letters in the mail. There were only so many calling cards we could go through in a week. Long distance phone calls were expensive, cell phone plans were just getting introduced, and e-mail hadn't quite caught on yet. I loved the letters that came through the mail. My friends were so creative. They'd draw, make collages, use sticky notes, stickers, pretty much anything to jazz up a piece of paper. Did I mention they were wonderful writers too? In three hand written pages, they had somehow painted a picture of their daily lives filled with gossip, cute boys, weird boys, new developments, and milestones I fondly remember only by re-reading the stacks I've piled away in keepsake boxes.

These days, communication with friends is done over Facebook, Twitter, one sentence e-mails, and texts. Not many people want or find the time to chat on the phone anymore. And snail mail? Snail mail is a lost art.

Greenwich Letterpress

I recently received this "Mad Props" card from a friend after I took care of her dogs while she was away. I find it brilliant. It's a shade of green that I love and it keeps it old school and traditional by using letterpress while staying with the times. Urban Dictionary defines mad props as an alternative to thank you. Mad props to my friend for picking out this card.

Night Owl Paper Goods

I gave this card to my sister for her birthday. It's an inside joke of how we hail taxis. It's genius how you can walk into a card shop and find the perfect card for someone. It's as if the card was made for you, or him, or her, or them.

Fomato

This is a card one of my friends from California mailed to me just because. We're big fans of Fomato cards. They are pretty random and humorous. I was perusing their site and came across this one birthday card . Sick and I couldn't stop laughing.

I used to write beautiful poetic letters. I went through stationary as if it were college ruled paper and I was taking notes. I loved sending mail and getting letters. I don't write letters anymore and my e-mails are looking more like instant messages these days.

I think it's time to go back to handwritten letters and postage stamps. Call me sentimental or old fashioned but some things are worth preserving.

Greenwich Letterpress

39 Christopher St.

New York, NY 10014

Paper Source

102 Smith St.

Brooklyn, NY 11201