Your Postal Blog

Postal Blarney

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 05:00:16 PDT

Bill Barkemeyer of Topeka, KS, gets
in a festive Saint Patrick's Day mood.

Interestingly, there are two letters that St. Patrick wrote which still survive. His short account of his life and mission remain the best source of information about him. Another example of the historical value of letters.

For fun here are some Post Offices with Saint Patrick Day names:

Clover, SC 29710

Clover, VA 24534

Erin, NY 14838

Erin, TN 37061

Green, KS 67447

Green, OH 44232

Ireland, IN 47545

Ireland, WV 26376

Limerick, ME 04048

Saint Patrick, MO 63466

Shamrock, OK 74068

Shamrock, TX 79079

Everybody's Got A Price

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Thu, 15 Mar 2012 05:00:12 PDT

Everybody's got a price: Whats yours?

Mike Causey recently asked this question. He points out that buyout season is upon us. January, February and March are the months that buyouts are most cost-effective for Uncle Sam. Last year, 21 federal agencies offered buyouts to more than 30,000 federal workers. They ranged from 6,500 eligible in the Air Force to as few as 33 employees of the Army Material Command.

Causey warns that when and if a buyout offer comes, you will likely have a short window of time in which to decide, and then leave. If there is a stampede, you may face a first-come-first-serve situation. For more thoughts on what to consider read Causey's article at www.federalnewsradio.com.

So what would you do if the boss offered you $25,000 before deductions to take regular or early retirement? Whats your tipping point?

One Thousand Posts -- My How Time Flies!

noreply@blogger.com (David Rupert) — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 07:38:53 PDT

It's been a long and winding road, but we've made it.
Today marks the 1,000th post at Your Postal Blog.
At the beginning of this journey we had a vision of something … different. We wanted a little news, a little information and a lot of interesting dialogue. And we wanted fun. Over the years, we've been able to meet those goals, always looking for the "other side" of postal news.
Our readership, friends and status has grown.
Thank you.

Benny Blogger and friends.

Have a comment about Your Postal Blog? Click here.

Al the Letter Carrier -- A Your Postal Podcast exclusive

noreply@blogger.com (David Rupert) — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 13:05:58 PDT

Al the Letter Carrier has been a huge hit, giving USPS a marketing edge with its "if it fits, it ships" campaign.

On this month's, Your Postal Podcast , you'll be treated to an exclusive behind-the-scenes visit to the Hollywood set where the latest Postal Service commercials were filmed. The ads star the Mike Bradecich, who portrays the likable and engaging letter carrier.

Mike Bradecich takes a break from filming his latest USPS commercial in Los Angeles

This month’s other feature story celebrates a New Hampshire mail handler’s half-century of service to the USPS. You’ll also hear a brief roundup of recent postal headlines.

For a transcript of the program, please click here. If you’ve missed any previous editions, you’ll find them all at the Your Postal Podcast website. Shows can also be downloaded free at the iTunes Store or you can subscribe via RSS.

Please click here to share your comments or ideas for future podcasts.

Mental Health Mail

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 05:00:21 PDT

Two recent studies appear to indicate that writing letters can have a profound effect on the mental well-being of both senders and recievers.

Steve Toepfer, associate professor in Human Development and Family Studies at Kent State University, has always been interested in the power of writing.

His latest research examined the effects of writing letters of gratitude. A sample of 219 undergraduate students who ranged in age from 18 to 65, filled out a battery of questionnaires on three primary qualities of well-being: happiness (positive affect), life satisfaction (cognitive evaluation) and depression (negative affect). They returned to the research lab three more times about a week apart. The experimental group wrote a letter of gratitude each time while the control group did not.

Results show that gratitude appears to be a powerful resource that can produce positive effects. As a tool for mining that resource, writing letters also has a cumulative effect. If you write over time, you’ll feel happier, you’ll feel more satisfied, and if you’re suffering from depressive symptoms, your symptoms will decrease. For the group that did not write letters but filled out the questionnaires, their well-being did not change.

To read the online article from the Journal of Happiness Studies, visit http://www.springerlink.com/content/f6t3225211776323/fulltext.html.

Benjamin Loew, a graduate research assistant in the psychology department at the University of Denver, co-authored the results of a recent study published in the Journal of Traumatic Stress.

A research team surveyed 193 married Army soldiers at Fort Campbell, KY, who had returned in the past year from an overseas tour that included combat. They evaluated each soldier for PTSD symptoms, their exposure to combat and their marital satisfaction. They also quizzed each soldier on the frequency and types of communication they had received from home while they were deployed.

They found that happily married soldiers who received frequent communication that the team described as delayed - written communication and care packages - had fewer PTSD symptoms than those who'd received more instant communications, such as phone calls, video chats and instant messages.

To read a summary on the U.S. News & World Report Health Day webpage, visit http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/brain-and-behavior/articles/2011/12/28/in-the-age-of-email-the-good-old-letter-still-holds-sway_print.html

Losing Your Zip

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 05:00:00 PST

Michael Eckers is shown at the Eagle Center,
a world class raptor rehab center in Wabasha, MN.

Michael Eckers began his postal career as a letter carrier in San Diego, CA. He completed it 30 years later when he retired as the Dodge Center, MN, Postmaster. Michael also served in the Navy during Viet Nam, and is now the author of five books.

He uses those three decades of postal service in his latest book, Losing Your Zip. It's a collection of humorous anecdotes taken from first hand experience, including the original exam he took where they tested 5000 people for 500 jobs.

This is a light hearted look at what goes on behind the doors, and the counter, at a Post Office. He dedicates the book to "the millions of postal employees who have really 'delivered the goods' throughout our nation's history."

American military history being a passion since his teen years, Eckers' other titles have been non-fiction history books about WWII and the Civil War. He also does public appearances and reenactments.

Michael Eckers favorite saying is, "History is something to look forward to."

Author, and former Postmaster, Michael Eckers
dressed as General Sibley on a battlefield reenactment.

http://www.michaeleckers.com/

Bombed With Mail

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 05:00:06 PST

Operation Cornflakes was a World War II Office of Strategic Services PSYOP mission which involved tricking the German postal service into inadvertently delivering anti-Nazi propaganda to German citizens.

Some leaflets had been airdropped previously, but weather and counter-intelligence had diverted many before they could reach their intended audience. Now the Allies would use the Reich's postal system itself as a means of distribution.

Sergeant Nick Los loads a fake
German mailbag into a leaflet bomb.

Every aspect of the German postal system was replicated, down to the smallest details. OSS operatives across Europe prepared the materials. Groups in England and Switzerland printed propaganda letters and forged stamps. A group in Rome printed envelopes with more than two million legitimate names and addresses. Even proper cancellations were applied.

When all the materials were ready, loaded mail bags were handed over to the 15th Army Air Force, which was given the task of delivering them behind enemy lines.

The mail bags were stuffed into specially constructed bomb casings, fitted with detonator caps linked to a control in the cockpit. The pilots could push a button to eject the bags, leaving the bomb canister on board so the Germans wouldn't be alerted to the drop.

After allied fighter-bombers would attack leaving the derailed train and its cargo of mail scattered over the area, then a second wave of bombers would drop fresh mail bags around the train.

Cleaning up the mess caused by the attack, German postal workers recovered the bags and delivered their contents - unaware of the materials hidden within.

Photo used with permission of Sergeant Major Herbert Friedman from the website: http://www.psywarrior.com/Cornflakes2.html

Dr. Strange and Women's History

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Wed, 07 Mar 2012 03:26:08 PST

March is Women's History Month

Doctor Jackie Anderson Strange joined the U.S. Post Office Department as a temporary clerk in 1946 while still in college. She worked her way up through the ranks - often as the first woman in many managerial positions - serving as Postmaster and Post Office Operations Manager. A number of district and regional managerial positions followed, and in 1985, Strange was promoted to the second highest job in the Postal Service, Deputy Postmaster General. She is the only woman to ever serve in that capacity.

After her retirement from the Postal Service she served as CEO and President of Senator Bob Dole's Foundation for People with Disabilities. She has received numerous awards including an honorary doctorate degree from her alma mater Georgia Southern University.

In 2011, Dr. Strange received the Woodrow B. Seals Laity Award from the Perkins School of Theology for service in the church, community, and world. She has published a book entitled, "Ms. Deputy Postmaster General; How Trusted Leadership, Courage & Innovations Impacted the Postal Service".

You can hear Dr. Strange speak about her postal job at this link;
http://postalmuseum.si.edu/WomenHistory/words/words_strange.html

In 2011, she helped dedicate the Mark Twain stamp. You can view photos from that event at this link:
http://www.behance.net/kaylon/frame/2227946

Art For Morale

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 05:00:16 PST

Canvas mural, "Postman in Storm," is located in Independence, IA.
First installed in 1938 and restored in 2000.
Used with the permission of the United States Postal Service®. All rights reserved.

One of the many beautiful murals located in Post Offices throughout all 50 of the United States. As part of the New Deal, between 1934 and 1943, the Postal Service commissioned 1,200 murals and 300 sculptures.

Produced under the Treasury Department's Section of Painting, unlike the Works Progress Administration Art Project that was directed toward providing economic relief, this art was placed to help boost the morale of people suffering the effects of the Great Depression.

Dallan Wordekemper is a USPS Federal Preservation Officer. Since he joined the Postal Service in 2003, Wordekemper has repaired or restored more than 200 of these murals at post offices.

"These are unique murals for the communities and they stay in the communities," Wordekemper said.

FederalNewsRadio.com recently reported that Wordekemper holds one of the cool jobs in government.
http://www.federalnewsradio.com/667/2708177/Cool-Jobs-The-Mural-Preservationist

For information about postal guidelines for photographing New Deal Art in postal facilities view:
http://about.usps.com/doing-business/rights-permissions/new-deal-art.htm

Transparent Mailbox

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 05:00:13 PST

Original caption, 12/17/1948, Tuscon, AZ:

"Mails In. Jane McIntosh happily reads her mail after retrieving it from a plastic mailbox. The devices, which are made in Tuscon, enable the owner to see whether the postman left anything worthwhile without going to the trouble of opening it."

Transparent is the latest buzz word, but this see-through mailbox probably would not be a big seller in this age of privacy concerns.

Achieving a Summit

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 05:00:09 PST

Doug Rhoades, a USPS Logistics & Distribution Specialist in Phoenix, AZ, made a goal to conquer Mount Kilimanjaro. He planned to make the climb in July 2011 to honor the passing of his mother who had lung cancer. Unfortunately, his plans went awry when he was diagnosed with stage 3 lung cancer himself.

In March 2011 he started 12 weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatment. Once his treatment was complete he could only walk small amounts of time, but he began training again and eventually built up his strength. In October 2011, with his son Josh by his side, he achieved his goal placing a photo of his mother at the summit sign.

http://www.climbmountkilimanjaro.com/page497.html

http://www.posta.co.tz/

On Your Way

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 05:00:19 PST

If your travel plans will take you outside of the United States, a passport is a must. Remember to check the expiration dates of your entire family’s passports well in advance of your departure date. U.S. passports are issued to adults for 10 years and to children under the age of 16 for 5 years. Your passport may be valid, but your child could be carrying an expired one.

The passport book provides the traveler with the identification and proof of citizenship for all international travel, whether by air, land, or sea. The passport card is a travel document that can be used for entering the United States from Canada, Mexico, the Caribbean, and Bermuda at land border crossings or sea ports-of-entry. It cannot be used for international air travel.

USPS makes it convenient to apply for a passport, and you can even get your photos made there. March 10th will be Passport Day in the USA with some locations having extended hours. Visit www.usps.com/passport to locate a Post Office near you that offers passport services.

Tips for Traveling Abroad:

Sign up for the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program so the State Department can better assist you in an emergency. It's a free online service at https://travelregistration.state.gov.

Leave copies of your itinerary, passport data page, and visas with family or friends so you can be contacted in case of emergency.

Country-specific information, travel warnings, and travel alerts are updated regularly and are accessible through the State Department’s travel information website at http://www.travel.state.gov.

If your U.S. passport is lost or stolen while you are overseas, report it immediately to the local police and to the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate. A consul can issue a replacement passport. Links to contact information for U.S. embassies and consulates may be found at http://usembassy.state.gov.

For more information visit Get You Home at:
http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/vacation/getyouhome/

Submarine Mail in New Mexico

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 05:00:04 PST

This stamp was issued Jan. 6 in Santa Fe, NM, in observance of the Centennial celebration of New Mexico statehood.

Leo Davis, WWII submarine veteran
affixes stamps to each cover.

One group, among many, who decided to do a little extra to celebrate was the New Mexico Council of the Navy League of the United States. This civilian support organization took the opportunity to highlight the USS New Mexico submarine by having it carry some special mail onboard. The "submarine mail" now makes a commemorative collectable.

The USS New Mexico Committee designed and produced a special cachet cover that features a photo of the submarine underway, and the commemorative postage stamp. It also features an insert with information about the Navy's 6th Virginia-class submarine and a special USPS-approved cancellation postmark.

The cachet envelopes were then overnighted to the Chief of the Boat, ETCS Eric Murphy who took them to sea.

The Commanding Officer, CDR George Perez, signed each cover, thereby certifying that each has been carried beneath the sea aboard USS New Mexico.

USS New Mexico

For more about the USS New Mexico visit the website: http://www.ussnewmexico.net/

Winning Score

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 23:13:25 PST

Patrick and team receive the $5000 Juried Prize

Patrick Taylor, a video producer/director in the USPS Multimedia and National Events group at headquarters in Washington, DC, was part of the crew who recently received a Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking from the Sundance Film Festival Awards. More than 7,000 films were entered in the competition.

Taylor, who has his own production company, wrote and produced the score for “Fishing Without Nets,” a movie that details the lives of several Somalian pirates.

USPS Headquarters video producer/director Patrick Taylor

For more on the 2012 Short Awards log onto www.sundance.org.

Grand Canyon State

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 05:00:19 PST

With the issuance of this stamp, the U.S. Postal Service commemorates the 100th anniversary of Arizona’s statehood. One of America’s last frontiers, Arizona became the 48th state in the Union on February 14, 1912.

Congress made Arizona a U.S. territory in 1863, but achieving statehood would take nearly 50 more years. Today, more than six million people live in Arizona, home to 21 Native American tribes with ancient connections to the land. About a quarter of the state is set aside for Indian reservations, including the Navajo Reservation, the largest in the United States.

The “Grand Canyon State,” is known for its stunning beauty and abundant natural resources. The stamp art celebrates this beauty with an original painting of Cathedral Rock, one of the colorful and much admired sandstone rock formations of Sedona, Arizona. Stamp artist and Phoenix native Ed Mell is well known for his distinctive modernist renderings of the Southwest desert landscape.

On the Campaign Trail

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 04:30:03 PST

The New York Times recently ran a story about the role that mail has played in the election so far. It made the point that putting a printed piece in the hands of a voter is a valuable use of a campaign's advertising dollar.

"The decision makers in these campaigns know that the 'mail moment' grabs a voter’s attention more fully than any web, television or radio advertisement could possibly do," the Times concluded.

Ads on television are pointed, but mail pieces can be even sharper and carry a far longer shelf life than a fleeting 30-second commercial.

And standard mail can now be easily sent to every address using Every Door Direct. Want to get your message out to the masses? Mail it.

https://www.usps.com/business/every-door-direct-mail.htm

http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/12/30/gingrich-hit-hard-by-iowa-mailers/

Return, Recyle, Reinvent Revenue

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 05:00:01 PST

In Germany, the postal service plans to make some revenue by collecting old mobile phones, household electronic devices, used printer cartridges, and any other e-waste that is small enough to fit in one of their A4-size envelopes.

Gold, silver, copper and dozens of other valuable raw materials are hidden in every electronic device and waiting to be plundered. ALBA, the company that will recycle the electro-waste, projects that up to 80 percent of the materials in old electronics can be recycled. They are hoping to see 10,000 submissions per month, filled with consumer products that otherwise were destined for a landfill, or lying neglected at the back of a drawer.

Patrons can download a postage-paid label from the online site of the German Post, free of cost. Once labelled, possible treasures can be dropped into any post box, and will be sent to the ALBA recycling facilities.

The project, called "Electroreturn," will be supported for one year, after which the Post will examine whether the effort is worth continuing. If the estimated 83 million old mobile phones that are out of use but not yet disposed of return to the material supply chain, the project may prove itself worthwhile.

Universal Language

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 05:00:15 PST

Photo courtesy David Van Allen,
USPS Eastern Area CPS

Richard Anderson has had a 41-year career in the business of communications without ever speaking a word.

Deaf and mute since birth, he started with the United States Postal Service sorting mail in the Cleveland Processing and Distribution Plant. Then jumped at the chance when a mail carrier position was offered.

“I enjoyed being a newspaper boy when I was young, so I really wanted to try carrying mail,” signed Anderson.

The 62-year old estimated he has walked more than 500,000 miles delivering the mail. He shared some of the trials of a carrier including the heat and cold, a hornet's nest, and a dog that chomped his leg. But communicating was not a problem.

“Sometimes customers don’t know I’m deaf and try to talk to me. Since most people don’t know sign language, I always carry a pen and paper in my pocket so we can write what we want to say.”

Several letters from satisfied customers attest to his conscientious work ethic. There are also multiple awards including those for Special Achievement and Outstanding Handicapped Employee.

Anderson has decided to retire soon. When asked what led to his stellar record, Anderson replied, “I respect the customers and supervisors, whatever the rules are,” and he added that he’s sure to put a smile on his face for even the most disgruntled individuals.

A smile speaks in any language.

Story in part thanks to The News-Herald in Cleveland,OH.

Off the Board

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 13:34:24 PST

Katharina Henot is immortalized

in a stone statue on the city hall

tower of Cologne, Germany.

Katharina Henot was well known in Germany in 1627 when she was suddenly blamed for causing a plague of caterpillars, and burned at the stake for being a witch.

She was 57 years old, married, and the first female Postmaster in Germany. She never faltered in spite of being tortured, and denied all charges even as she was paraded down the street and strangled before being set fire.

On February 13th, 2012, Cologne city councillors heard new evidence that she was arrested on trumped-up charges in a political dispute, and 385 years after she died they have declared her innocent.

Katharina and her brother, Harger Henot, inherited a post office from their father. They were thought to have been embroiled in a dispute with the Imperial Court whose members wanted some of the profits. Particularly with Count Leonhard II von Taxis, who was trying to establish a single, central post office.

The Count was a fifth generation member of the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis. From about I290 the early ancestors of the family had operated courier services in the Italian city-states. The first generation founder had set up a horse-based message transport system which had proven to be so efficient that the Habsburg needed it to control their expanding empire. In I490 Emperor Frederick III offered a communications monopoly to the family.

This would continue to expand and last for more than 350 years.The last Thurn and Taxis postal system was purchased by the Prussian government and nationalized in 1867.

Taxis post coach.

The legacy of Thurn and Taxis mail delivery lives on in many ways. Today our word taxi derives from the post coaches they employed, and many are the same distinctive yellow that their coaches were painted. The post-horn from the Thurn and Taxis coat of arms is still the logo of the German Post.

References can be found in many books including Walter Jon William' Elegy for Angels and Dogs, where the protagonist is the head of the Thurn and Taxis family. And the mail monoply of Thurn and Taxis is central to the plot of The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon, which deals with a secret rival mail system called W.A.S.T.E., developed by the fictional Trystero family.

Perhaps most telling is the winner of the prestigious 2006 Spiel des Jahres award, the Thurn and Taxis board game designed by Karen and Andreas Seyfarth. In the game, players seek to build postal networks and postoffices in Bavaria and surrounding areas, as did the house of Thurn und Taxis in the 16th century.

In 1627, the game was also taking over as much mail delivery as possible, and Katherina Henot appears to have been pushed off the board.

Read more:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2100365/Katharina-Henot-Cologne-retrial-witch-burned-stake-1627.html#ixzz1mKrdzq5C

http://www.phonebookoftheworld.com/thurnandtaxis.htm

Post Office Landing

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Wed, 22 Feb 2012 01:51:02 PST

Fifty years ago John Glenn was the first American to orbit the Earth. As soon as his Mercury spacecraft Friendship 7 safely splashed down, the news of his historic mission was recorded across the nation by U.S. Post Offices.

For the first and only time in the country's history, the United States Post Office Department surprised the public with the release of a secret stamp celebrating Glenn's successful mission. The 4-cent "Project Mercury" postage stamp was revealed and immediately put on sale in 305 post offices within an hour of Glenn's triumphant return to Earth at 2:43 p.m. EST on Feb. 20, 1962.

The stamp was officially kept secret in case the mission failed. The call from Washington to put them on sale came at 3:30 p.m. EST. For Post Offices on the East Coast, such as Boston, that meant that customers had only a few hours before the offices closed to obtain first day postmarks. The most time was afforded at the station farthest west, Honolulu, Hawaii, where the stamps were released at 10:30 a.m.

As news of the stamp spread, the public began lining up at Post Offices to get them. By the end of the first day 10,290,850 of the stamps had been sold. By the time the stamp was withdrawn from sale on June 6, 1962, more than three million had been postmarked on collectors' envelopes. At least 250,000 of the stamps were canceled at the official Cape Canaveral station.

For his part, John Glenn says he does not remember how he first learned of the stamps or where he first saw them. But he is very familiar with them now. "I have certainly seen enough of them since then," Glenn told collectSPACE. "I've signed thousands of those things."

Without a way to coordinate nationwide, collectors couldn't know if such "first day covers" existed for all 305 stations. To this day, 50 years later, as many as 20 cities are still missing examples. To see a list of missing cities visit: http://www.collectspace.com/news/news-022012a.html

Make Room for Danny

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 05:00:14 PST

Legendary entertainer Danny Thomas, the founder of renowned St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, is being honored on a new USPS stamp. The stamp was officially dedicated at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis, TN, and available nationwide today.

Thomas was a star of radio, film and television. From 1953 through 1964, he received five Emmy nominations for his starring role in Make Room for Daddy, winning in 1953 and 1954 for Best Actor Starring in a Regular Series. The show also received an Emmy for Best New Situation Comedy in 1953 and Best Situation Comedy in 1954.

In 1962, Thomas founded St. Jude with a mission to save the lives of children everywhere. Today, St. Jude is the only pediatric cancer research hospital where no family is ever turned away due to an inability to pay. Research at St. Jude has changed how the world treats leukemia, brain tumors, and sickle cell disease, helping push survival rates for childhood cancers from less than 20 percent in 1962 to almost 80 percent today.

Danny and comedian Jack Benny with the original architectural drawing of the hospital.

http://www.stjude.org/50

Miniature Mail

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 05:00:02 PST

They say the present generation likes their mail to be unique. That's good news for Lea Redmond’s tiny mass mailings which have helped get messages out in a big way.

Leafcutter Designs uses a miniature format to send uniquely designed wedding invitations, pieces of direct mail, product promotions — anything you might want to print — in a teeny, tiny format.

Redmond’s tiny letters are one inch wide and her miniature packages are two inches wide. She uses the U.S. Postal Service to deliver them in larger envelopes that include magnifying glasses to read the notices. She can fit up to 1,000 characters on a piece of paper that is 1 X 1½ inches.

“There is just something delightful and fun when you play with scale like this,” explains Redmond. “You definitely get people’s attention.”

The design of the mailings is customized to fit the needs of each customer, which range from individuals to multinational companies. One customer states the mailings resulted in nearly 9 percent of the recipients calling for a demonstration, and he adds there was a 30-percent hit increase on his website.

“People really like things to be sent in the mail,” Redmond said. “You can feel it and hold it in your hand. It comes across as more meaningful than something sent electronically. This is a labor of love for me and it’s really my delight to make these magical little mailings.”

Missives En Masse

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Wed, 15 Feb 2012 05:00:18 PST

For Valentine's Day 1986, Ted Kooser wrote "Pocket Poem" and sent it to 50 friends, thus starting an annual tradition that would persist for the next 21 years.

Printed on postcards, the poems were mailed to a list of recipients all over the United States. He always dropped them at the Post Office in Valentine, NE, to be postmarked. He kept adding requests and over the years the list grew to number 2,700.

Kooser is happily married (his wife approved of the Valentines) and lives in rural Nebraska. He founded American Life in Poetry, which features poetry in a weekly column for newspapers. He also is a Presidential Professor of English at the University of Nebraska, a former U.S. Poet Laureate, and the winner of a Pulitzer Prize.

In 2007 he spent almost $1,000 on postage, and printing the post cards. That's when he decided to stop writing and sending Valentine's Day poems, at least for now. So he took the 20 years of Valentine poems and published them in a book in 2008.

Just a little poem, a little thought, not much really. Why would so many people sign up to get an original Valentine poem in the mail?

Mail Exchange Leads to Ring Exchange

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 05:00:13 PST

The U.S. Postal Service has issued a new edition in the popular line of Love stamps, just in time to embelish this year's valentines.

The graphic design features satin ribbons that spell out the word “Love” in a graceful, cursive script. These stamps are sure to adorn and embellish many sentimental greetings. They may even help an exchange of mail to have long lasting results.

Two people who participated in the post card exchanges at www.postcrossing.com certainly experienced having their mail make a big impact. Their exchanges eventually led them to a Postcrossing meeting in the Ukraine a year ago.

Ivan and Natalia continued to meet and do things together, like a photography course, kayaking, and attending more Postcrossing meetups. Then last fall, they decided to get married and of course, they celebrated by sending out lots of post cards to their friends!

You never know where a piece of mail may lead you.....

http://www.postcrossing.com/blog/page/2

Forever Healthy

noreply@blogger.com (Benny the Blogger) — Mon, 13 Feb 2012 05:00:00 PST

To promote a healthy lifestyle, the Surgeon General and the American Heart Association joined USPS in dedicating the 2012 Heart Health Forever stamp.

The Heart Health stamp will be featured on an episode of “The Biggest Loser” to air on Tuesday, Feb. 14, at 8 p.m. EST. The episode also will include the announcement of a sweepstakes that promotes letter writing.

For an 11-week period, viewers are invited to watch, write and win by sending letters of encouragement to their favorite Biggest Loser contestant. Viewers may submit an unlimited number of separate letters addressed to one contestant at a time. Letters also can be addressed to previously eliminated contestants from this season. Letters will be drawn at random to win one of three prizes:

Grand Prize: One week, all expense paid trip for two to the Biggest Loser Resort.
Second Prize: Four weeks of Biggest Loser prepared meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner) — delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.
Third Prize: Tickets for two with airfare to the Biggest Lose Grand Finale that will air in May 2012.

Sweepstakes information will be available on Feb. 14 at Post Offices nationwide and at this link the day after the show’s airing: usps.com/biggestloser

“Nothing touches the heart like a letter from a loved one,” said Postmaster General Donahoe. “We hope Americans will use our 2012 Heart Health Social Awareness stamps for writing letters to loved ones and friends."