Dear Everyone ~
My friend Susan is a literal and figurative bundle of stationery joy. She set herself a mission on Day #1 of the Shelter Season, when I announced my Stationery for the Socially Stationary. Susan promptly ordered a bundle and resolved to send each & every sheet & card into the world to brighten the mailbox of someone she loves. Which she did...and continues to do. Susan and her husband also have a mostly-stationary bundle of joy named Zev, who is now seven months old. Susan is rarely snoozin’.
At the end of March, Susan emailed me to confirm the decanting and disposition of her bundle:
“ Yesterday I had a little time while Zev napped, so I wrote the first batch of notes from what I received in my pack: I thanked a family friend for a baby gift, congratulated friends on the adoption of a new dog, and let my nurse cousin know that I’m thinking of her as she does important work. It was such an enjoyable experience! I can’t wait to finish the rest of my correspondence challenge. ”
Susan sequentially selected a Deluxe Bundle, and then a Booster, and, last week, an autumnal bundle. She has stuck to her epistolary mission and continues to update me on her progress.
A couple of weeks ago, I received an actual letter from Susan, written on a simple notesheet with a possibly special provenance:
“ The box is decorated in embossed gold foil with black lattice design—circa 1960? My second cousin’s parents ran a greeting card store on Irving Park, “Buss Brothers” + I like to imagine that this stationery came from the shop, and now, many years later after it closed, a little part of the shop lives on. ”
Susan “headlined” her letter with “Several unrelated items,” and proceeded to enumerate three charming points, including the one about the stationery on which she was writing. When she came by to pick up her autumnal bundle, Susan told me that the actual name of the shop had been “Buss Brothers Greeting Cards.” I know I would have been a regular!
Susan described finding the box recently in her basement as a silver lining of quarantining days. As you can see, the envelope lining isn’t really silver, it’s lightweight paper, not tissue, with a botanical motif sprouting out of the envelope.
I am an ardent fan of sending & receiving postcards. And full-blown letters in envelopes are of an even higher order. Delightfully, a letter seems so personal. Even if it is short-ish, I feel like it deserves my full attention, worthy of my sitting down and savoring it with a cup of tea.
I also find writing letters to be soothing, calming, and gratifying. I love selecting multiple stamps to adorn the envelope. My current favourites are the fruits & vegetables painted as classic still lifes. (Susan used the figs on her envelope. She too is a big fan of these stamps.) The happy fact that they are the exact same size as the low-denomination fruits with white backgrounds...adds to their creative deliciousness.
I am particularly fond of this bit from Susan’s letter:
“ One good thing to come out of quarantining-time is that I’ve written so many letters + postcards + received many wonderful notes in return. I’m so grateful to have your shop nearby to supply me with all my epistolary needs. ”
I love the idea of being the proprietress of a currently online-only establishment purveying handbound books and boxes...and epistolary needs!
Summer Fruit Sampler
Autumnal Bundle of Stationery Joy
Deluxe Array of Assorted Denominations
Yours in epistolary ecstasy, Bari