1940s aerogramme-style Air Mail with wings

What a find! I'm so excited about this World War II era stationery, just listed in my etsy shop. The little envelope with wings is my favorite part!



This is a complete original set of Wessel's Air Mail Envo-Letters, in original packaging. The paper folder contains 12 sheets of aerogramme-style stationery, which fold up into their own envelopes. The 1940s air mail graphics are stunning! Though they do not have a specific date on them, I'm near certain they are from the 1940s, roughly in the World War 2 era.



The packaging folders do show some wear and age spots, as you can see in the photos, but the envo-letters contained inside are in excellent shape, perfect for modern retro letter writing (or for the collector, of course). Above you see the folded sheets on the outside, with the excellent red and blue air mail stripes...



...and they are mostly blank on the inside, except for the fantastic Air Mail with wings graphic shown in close-up at the top of this post.

For aficionados of vintage writing instruments, I have enjoyed these in my own letter-writing, and can attest that this vintage paper is very fountain pen friendly, and takes fountain pen ink beautifully.

These are not to be confused with V-Mails, which Wessel also manufactured - V-Mails were for correspondence with American troops stationed overseas, but these Envo-Letters looked to be for any international air mail. (I also sell vintage WWII V-Mail sets, too.)



I have a few of these sets in the original packaging - fun to look at, and fun to write on. Check out an example of one I sent internationally a few months ago.

Cat butt stamps

Here's an outgoing letter that features two of my recent self-made photo stamps from Zazzle. We see Magic delving into a food bag (does this make my butt look fat?) on the left, and Memo's girth arrayed on a table, from the MOST flattering angle, on the right. I must say that the WIDE LOAD stamp has been a tremendous hit with family and friends who actually know Memo in the flesh (or shall I say, in the flab). I added the International Women's Day stamp to tally up to the international letter rate.

Should you be so inclined, the original photos used to make the stamps can be found on Flickr:
A prize in every bag (Magic)
Wide Load (Memo)

Oh! I almost forgot - the stationery used is Wonder Woman fold & mail by Chronicle Books.

Handmade Edward Gorey fold-and-mail

If you read this blog much, you know how much I love fold and mails. And you know I love Edward Gorey. Well, this fountain-pen-using letter-writer got creative and sent me a handmade Edward Gorey fold-and-mail! Not only that, but dig the metalicious mailness going on in the quote: "I hadn't anything to do, And so I'm sending this to you." (Extra credit points for any blog reader who can tell me from which Gorey book that comes - I don't actually know the answer myself.)

I love how the woman sort of blends in with the wallpaper (can you tell her hand is raised?) and of course I am exceedingly fond of any Gorey cats. This one is very smug on his cushion.



Here's what the front of the envelope looks like - so groovy that he used white sealing wax on the front of the envelope! The fold is very debonair coming over the top of the front at a jaunty angle like that.



Here we have the first layer of unfolding; anyone who wants to copy this awesome fold should be able to do so from these photos.



Voila: the letter side unfolded. He has very artsy handwriting, no?



Finally we have the front/back, depending on how you look at it - the non-letter side, shall we say. This was very well-executed, with the Gorey panel printed (looks to be laser printed, is my guess) just so on the paper.

I want to be a kitty.

Today I bring you yet another design from the lovely world of Chronicle Books stationery: Mutts fold and mail.

I wasn't really familiar with Mutts before I saw this, but the artwork is very cute and should appeal to both cat and dog lovers, I think. Even the animals themselves are a bit confusing, but from the context of the cartoon I know this is a cat. Couldn't cover up the little guy in the top right corner with a stamp...



On the back is this wonderful comic that is actually a lot easier to understand before you fold it up: it's a battle/joyfest between a kitty and his favorite "little pink sock." He thrashes about with it, loves it, and falls asleep. Then his owners express sentiments that I often share: "I want to be a kitty." Ah, to be a cat...

Catwoman's Credo

I'm a little over-proud of myself for the suggestive placement of this Credo / In God We Trust stamp.

This is Catwoman fold and mail stationery by Chronicle Books.



Top open, slit top and sides - preferably with claws.

Wonder Woman: Suffering Sappho!

This is my very, very favorite design in the Wonder Woman fold-and-mail pad by Chronicle books. Suffering Sappho! A wee bit suggestive, no? Silver stars help ensure it stays closed (I hope).



On the front, I enjoyed using color-coordinated stamps.

Claw retractor

Here's another of the designs from the Catwoman fold-and-mails by Chronicle Books. I have left it unlinked here because I do believe they're now discontinued. But I've still got a lot of 'em, so they'll keep hitting the mail routes.



I just love her hippity-hop whipwork. Badass.

The Plug's Desperate Penpal Experiment, Vol. III

You remember all the fun I've had with The Plug. If not, click that there link.

Okay, now that you're all up to date on the story, here's more from that witty Jay.

He enveloped his letter in a lovely, stiff manila documents folder. And, apparently, I am now incorporated. Good gravy - I surely have my patent around here somewhere...



Documents enclosed: a letter, nothing more.

EXCEPT --- (ta da da DUM):



...there was a secret message! And it's uber-meta. *shiver* My cup runneth over.



So he got some Wallace & Gromit goodness in return, with some juicy old stamps.

New fold and mail: Elliott Erwitt Snaps

No one ever sent me this fold and mail set, I discovered it randomly while browsing online. Presenting the Elliott Erwitt Snaps: Fold & Send Stationery.

The designs are always back and white photos, with a solid color accent on the address panel and on the inside. Some are lined, some are graph, some are unlined. I love the variety, and the photographs are spectacular. I'm sure I'll be posting more designs here. The paper is quite fountain-pen friendly, and thicker than the Chronicle books fold and mails, slightly sturdier stuff.

Stuff on my cat: godzilla transmission

Here's some more Stuff on My Cat fold & mail stationery from Chronicle Books. I love the godzilla bit.



The cat on the stamp is my own Memo. There's no stuff on him, though.

Nancy's Mysterious Letter

Here's another design of the fabu Nancy Drew fold and mails by Chronicle Books.

This one, a wee bit meta:



Nancy's Mysterious Letter!

WHAT could it contain?

Stuff on my cat fold & mail: blondie wig

I received a letter on Stuff on My Cat fold & mail stationery and I was smitten. Here was another fold and mail I didn't have! So, of course, I had to get it. It's from Chronicle Books, and more info on the Stuff on my Cat set in particular is here. And, of course, you can always visit stuffonmycat.com itself.



I chose this blonde cowgirl theme for my first Stuff on My Cat letter. Who doesn't love a cat in a wig??

Sempe ballet fold and mail

Continuing my addiction to fold and mails, here is one that is actually NOT from Chronicle Books. I stumbled upon this browsing around on the web, and couldn't resist. It is Sempé: Ballet Dancers Fold & Send Stationery from Phaidon Press. You can see more photos of the inside if you look at the listing on Amazon.com, where there are some nice customer-uploaded images.

Two of the stamps I used are Zazzle photostamps using photos of my kitties: Magic on the top and Soda on the bottom.

Nancy Drew fold and mail

I was never a Nancy Drew fan as a kid, but I'm a huge fan of these Nancy Drew fold and mails from Chronicle Books!

My favorite design:



BAGPIPES!!!

The design on the front remains the same on each sheet, though the colors vary. The backs have various book covers (I guess? I never read a full book) and each has a different line drawing on the inside.

Anysoldier.com

I can't believe I've forgotten to mention this until now.

A lot of people who write to me ask about resources for more folks to whom they can write. While it is NOT a pen pal service at all, if you're looking to write a letter that might make a real difference, I highly recommend Anysoldier.com. It is a direct way to get requests and addresses from real U.S. Military service personnel stationed overseas.

In a nutshell, it's no longer legal to address a letter to "any soldier," for security reasons. The soldiers (marines, airmen, sailors, etc) who participate in the Any Soldier program consent to serve as a contact for their unit or company (I don't know military terminology, so forgive me if I mangle some of it). The contact solider provides updates on the address - they're almost always at a base or an FPO or something like that - and these addresses do change frequently so you want to make sure that if you request an address, you use it immediately. There is little or no registration involved, you just do a search on their site and then request the address. Someone is sure to correct me if there is more of a registration process - I've been doing it for a while now so it's easy for me and I forget.

Some of the text on the site is geared to packages, and various companies request specific items, but I do a search for "letter" to see what I come up with. As they say on their own FAQ section:

"There is not one thing on this site, or anywhere, that requires you to send stuff. Letters are THE MOST requested thing by these Soldiers. So, all you need do is send a normal letter in a normal envelope with a normal stamp.
Good ideas: If you want, put your email address in your letter, many Soldiers can and prefer to reply that way. What to write? Too easy: like you are talking to a friend, because that is what that Soldier is going to be real quick. It is also VERY helpful if you leave your full return address as part of your letter, envelopes tend to get trashed quickly.

If your letter is for a Soldier other then the contact you address it to, PLEASE start your letter "Dear Soldier" not "Dear SGT Smith" as on the address. The contact passes the mail out to folks around him or her and when that servicemember opens the letter it will feel better without the contact's name on it."

Don't expect anyone to write back. I've written an awful lot of letters to soldiers, and you do it just because you want to write a letter and make someone's day. Just tell them you appreciate their service to our country. Honestly it may end up being a whole lot more meaningful to the recipient than if you write one of your pen pals anyway. So, if you're looking for an outlet, just to send something, then consider Anysoldier.com while you're considering cruising Sendsomething.net.

I should also note that while most soldiers don't write back, quite a few of them do. With two or three I continued a correspondence for a while. For those that did write back, they were so sweet and grateful. And for those of us that are living comfortably stateside, it's really interesting and important to hear about keeping sand out of your tent in 110-degree heat. Or other such details I learned in these letters. Whatever your position on the war - and I'll say here that in most cases I'm a pacifist, but that doesn't mean I'm not thankful for the work our military service personnel do - it has nothing to do with a letter to a soldier, far away from home, thanking them for their work and dedication.

I don't think I'm being terribly articulate in this post - and hey, it's pretty darn late at night right now - but I'm not trying to make the point how great you'll feel when you write to a solider. It's thinking about how maybe you'll really brighten their day.

Oh, and all of these military addresses and FPOs, although they may be located in Iraq and Afghanistan, only require one 44-cent first class stamp. And if the soldiers write you back, it's free for them. Cool.

Update: I just requested an address and wrote a letter. You don't need a password or anything, you just have to give your name and address and agree to the TOS. So I updated this post with photos of what I just wrote. The Wonder Woman fold and mail from Chronicle Books is shown folded at the top, and here is most of what I wrote to an anonymous marine (I did blur out a little bit of personal info in there, you gotta keep a few secrets, y'know?). Sorry the photo is a lot more grainy than my usual fare - but I don't usually take photos of letters at night.




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Stuff on my cat fold and mail

Here's another blog reader letter, featuring one of the Chronicle Books fold and mails that I DON'T HAVE: Stuff on my cat!

You can't tell from the photo (alas, I keep saying and saying that - glittery sparkly things don't photograph well in the hands of amateurs like me), but she used orange glitter gel pen for the address. Lovely. I am particularly fond of this combination of stamps, too - perfect kitty for the stationery, and y'all know I love the Letters Mingle Souls stamps.



The back is very cute - cats singing along with a record player... or possibly berating a record player. Who knows.

Yellow Catwoman fold and mail

A few of my correspondents have commented on how sexy these Catwoman fold and mails are. I guess they are kind of edgy. This set is by Chronicle Books, although I haven't been able to find it on their website so I believe it may be discontinued.



She keeps Batman and Robin in line, that Catwoman does.

Wallace and Gromit: teatime

Here's another fabulous Chronicle Books fold and mails, again of the Wallace & Gromit variety. This time I DID photograph the other side:



I've found it's best to "help" the glue of the fold-and-mails by adding stickers, because some folks have reported that they've arrived intact but unglued. So I thought a skull would be the perfect accompaniment to this twee tea party.

My response to The Letter Writing Project

I see a lot of cool letter projects in the "letters to strangers" posts on A Passion for Letter Writing, and I have much fun blogging about them here. Last month, there was Sign up to get a free letter, about a new Letter Writing Project. I didn't even have to write this fellow first, I emailed him with my address as directed, and I did indeed get a very sweet letter from him. It took me a couple of weeks, but I did write him back. I do encourage you to check up on the progress of his Letter Writing Project, which I see has gathered a lot of steam. He has a Facebook page for it, but I don't do Facebook so you can get the link from any of his posts I've linked here.

Technical details on the letter above: it one of the Chronicle Books fold and mail lovelies, specifically of the Wallace & Gromit variety. I added a few dots of Stickles glitter glue for some bling. You may or may not be able to see them here at this smaller size, but they'll pop out if you take a peek at the larger size photo. I don't know why I didn't photograph the other side, which actually shows Wallace & Gromit themselves, but I didn't. C'est la vie. Next time.

Pink Panther + older stamps

This is the letter I sent in response to the mailbox in my mailbox letter posted below. This is from the Pink Panther fold and mail set by Chronicle Books, on which I've posted before. For some reason I don't quite comprehend, I forgot to take a photo of the back of this design, which shows a lovely autumn scene with a convertible and a woman walking a dog - a poodle, I think. Ah well. Next time.

I love these Universal Postal Union stamps... more of my meta-mail fetish, I suppose.