First, happy birthday to me! Seventy-one, that’s how.
This box and its contents were gathered during the early seventies, when I was in college. I still use these sometimes, although I don’t correspond by paper mail very often.
In case you don’t know, those colorful sticks are sealing wax, and the metallic things are seals. So I’ve kind of been practicing nail stamping most of my life!
A WRITING PROMPT FROM ME TO YOU: A sealed letter or document.
MA
Michael Hodges
September 26, 2021 at 8:39amWell DEFINITELY Happy Birthday to you!
Letters are a dying art, more’s the pity. People exclaim and squee and wax on about the joys of letter writing, but it’s a sad fact most folk want to be written to, while caring very little to write in return.
There was a time when I put a great deal into the art of letters, printing out special papers, or seeking out beautiful Asian stationery… making and folding my own envelopes in order to create the thrill of something “different” in the mail… choosing curious and eclectic ways of writing the letters themselves (whether by hand or on a printer) so there was some effort in reading, but also clear effort (and dedication) in the process of creation.
Certain joys, alas, can only thrive for so long without the nourishment of feedback. An exchange, going all unexchanged, withers.
Marian Allen
September 26, 2021 at 9:36amYou’re right on so many counts! I love to get paper mail, but I’ve grown too accustomed to email. I still send birthday cards and I’ve started sending Christmas cards, but that’s about all the paper correspondence I do, apart from paying bills.
cpreflatish
September 26, 2021 at 8:51amSeventy-one? No way! Happy Birthday, my friend.
Marian Allen
September 26, 2021 at 9:36amThank you! <3
Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt
September 26, 2021 at 11:37amHope it was the happiest of birthdays – you deserve nothing less. We’re both September babies – and I’m a year ahead of you.
When we moved to this retirement community, I got my own stationery – cards and envelopes – and bought some calligraphy pens and another copy of the book on Italic Handwriting. I’ve used it a couple of times, and love having it all. No wax and stamps, though. Hmmm. Never thought of that.
Maybe I can make one with the Trilka Press logo – but we’re not allowed open flames, so I’d have to go outside to use them!
Marian Allen
September 26, 2021 at 12:27pmHmmm, has to be a workaround for that “no open flames” deal. Put a shard of wax on the back flap of the letter and microwave it until it softens?
Roy A Ackerman, PhD EA
September 26, 2021 at 11:53amHappy birthday, my fine Maid Marian. Enjoy your celebrations.
Marian Allen
September 26, 2021 at 12:28pmThanks, Dr. Ackerman! 🙂
John Holton
September 27, 2021 at 7:09pmHappy birthday!
Marian Allen
September 28, 2021 at 11:10amThank you!