Tuesday, October 4, 2011

for post that makes an impression, spend 29 cents

I received a postcard today. A handheld postcard in a 3-D mailbox. How to describe the beauty of this. The lovely heft of the paper. The sincerity of the hand-written message, ink-smeared by weather. The satisfaction of getting a message to which no response was expected--no Like or Thumbs up, no request for repost. Curious to me that this formerly common means of correspondence can be a source of wonderment today.

5 comments:

CORPORATE ROCK said...

Love your post(s).

I have 148 Friends (not really, but that's the FB #). If I sent them each a post card, buying 10 for a $1, and taking 3 minutes to write each one, it would cost (depending on my day rate) anywhere from $316.72 to $945.72 ... or $2.14 - $6.39 ea. That doesn't include time spent choosing the cards and deciding which one goes to whom ...

So I sent one from the Vatican to my brother and his family about two years ago ...

Ad Broad, oldest working writer in advertising said...

Thanks, CR. You make a good point about cost ineffectiveness (both time and $) of posting en masse via snail mail. But ye olde handheld correspondence can prove surprisingly effective when trying to get one person's attention.

A while ago, when I was having multitudinous problems with twitter and getting no satisfaction on getsatisfaction.com, I mailed Biz Stone a letter on handheld stationery from the desk of Betty Draper and got the satisfaction of seeing the letter on his flickr feed, and the greater satisfaction of problem resolution.

California Girl said...

I dearly miss the thrill of receiving a hand written letter or post card. I was taught to write thank you notes from the time I could write. I became an inveterate letter writer thereafter. My parents saved my correspondence and I now have it. It's hilarious the stuff you write as a child & teen. My husband saved my lteers to him throughout college, my extended tour through Europe, our divorce & eventual remarriage. My friends have many of my letters. I wish I had them all back even though it's somewhat embarrassing to read what a featherheaded ass I was as a teen & young woman.

I still collect hotel stationery if I can find it. We were in NYC 2 wks ago, staying at The Algonquin. They have nie stationery as well as post cards with New Yorker cartoons on them. I took them all. I will write on them & mail them and I will feel quite satisfied.

Ad Broad, oldest working writer in advertising said...

Sounds like there's a novel in those letters your husband saved, CG. Love that The Algonquin still stocks fine stationery, appropriate given the writerly heritage. Next time you're in town, give a shout if you've got time for Schrafft's or BAltman's.

California Girl said...

I would love that! I'd like to have a drink or soda and swap stories. I bet yours are interesting and a different perspective from mine. I never pictured working in NYC though I did a great deal of national broadcast sales with the agencies. Loved those trips. Miss those days. Flying was still fun, expense accounts were large (especially mine) and I had unlimited energy.

If you are serious, I'll let you know. My husband is consulting with a photography guru and we hope to get there more often (especially if she can help him sell his work on a larger scale).