USPS delaying post office closings

According to a news release on the USPS website, the U.S. Postal Service, in response to a request made by multiple U.S. Senators, has agreed to delay the closing or consolidation of any post office or mail processing facility until May 15, 2012. 

A Reuters story on Yahoo.com has more information, as does the Washington Post.


This may be good news for some post offices and the people who use them, or it could just be delaying the inevitable.

Combining digital and snail mail

Red Stamp is an app that you can download to your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad device and use it to design postcards, using the photos you take with the iPhone, et al. Then, the Red Stamp service prints the postcard and mails it to the people you list.

It's free to download the app, and many of the designs are free. Depending on how many postcards you send, they cost anywhere from $1.99 (for one) to 49 cents (for 1,000 or more). However, you can send the postcard electronically for no charge.

The app can be used for postcards, invitations, greeting cards, notecards and more.

Take a look at what they have going on at Red Stamp.

Writing Letters...it's not just fun...it's good for you!

According to research, writing letters of gratitude can improve your level of happiness and decrease feelings of depression that you may have.

Steve Toepfer, associate professor in Human Development and Family Studies at Kent State University at Salem, conducted a study and published the results, that showed that writing a series of letters expressing real gratitude improves levels of happiness and that improvement increases with each letter.

“We know people who receive letters of gratitude benefit, but what about the authors? Will you feel better by writing letters of gratitude? Are multiple letters better than a single composition? That’s what we examined here," he said.

According to information released by Kent State, Toepfer said, “What we come away from this study is that if you are looking to increase your well-being through intentional activities, take 15 minutes three times over three weeks and write letters of gratitude to someone. You’ll feel better on those three variables. There is a cumulative effect, too. 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.”

Toepfer said people have a store of gratitude that they carry with them all the time, and by simply using it, they can improve their well-being in significant ways.

“We have this powerful resource we’re carrying with us, but we need to tap into it in order to let it work for us,” he said.

To read the complete information from Kent Sate, click here. To read the online article from the Journal of Happiness Studies, click on this link: Letters of Gratitude:  Further Evidence for Author Benefits.

Nothing is new

According to the website Futility Closet, even "spam," those pesky emails trying to convince you that someone desperately needs your money or has money they need to send you, etc., has been around for about 200 years.

Greg Ross posted "Antique Spam" about scammers who sent handwritten letters to wealthy people in England, pretending to be needy people.

The Futility Closet is an interesting site with little bits and pieces of fascinating information. Check it out.

Great story about the impact of letters

Claire Martin of The Denver Post wrote a great story about how letters written by school children impact U.S. soldiers.

Take a look at the story, and don't forget to watch the accompanying video:

Letters a link to home: Afghan GI, Sgt. Kennedy James, thanks students for project

Not just letters...LOVE letters!

Have you seen this yet?

Hannah K. Brencher founded "The World Needs More Love Letters" website and project after she started writing and leaving love letters to strangers on the train in New York. She and others now write and send anonymous love letters to strangers.

It's not as weird as it sounds like it could be. The letters are uplifting and inspirational, a voice of kindness to someone who needs it. The website has suggestions for writing and "delivering" the letters, even examples of love letters that have been written. There's also a blog attached to the website.

The "Twelve Days of Love Letter Writing" is a project to collect love letters from letter writers like us and send them to people who need a boost. If you're interested in participating, click the link above and sign up and then follow through.

Holiday Stamps and Postmarks

If you are sending out any type of holiday greetings this winter, you might want to consider USPS holiday stamps and special postmarks.

For specific holidays, there are two Christmas-oriented stamps, the Madonna of the Candelabra by Raphael and the Holiday Baubles stamps; for Hanukkah, there is a colorful stamp with a dreidel on it; and for Kwanzaa, the stamp features a family celebrating the holiday. The 2011 stamps are all Forever stamps and may be used as First Class 1-ounce postage now and in the future.


From the past are Christmas, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa stamps marked 44-cents, which are good for First Class 1-ounce envelopes this year and until the postage rates increase. After that, they may be used in combination with additional postage.


For New Year's greetings or other winter holidays, the Holiday Evergreens, Celebrate! or Love stamps might be appropriate. 

Additionally, holiday mailers can request special postmarks from towns with festive-sounding names. For example, you can have your holiday cards postmarked in Rudolph, WI; Santa Claus, IN; or The North Pole. 



According to the USPS website, you can get a North Pole postmark on a letter from Santa or on your holiday greeting cards.  Click on the link above for a PDF document from the USPS about the service. The letters from Santa and the greeting cards need to be sent to Anchorage by Dec. 10. 

If you'd like other postmarks, write to a specific post offices for postmarks to keep or to share with friends. Enclose a stamped, addressed card or letter in another envelope or box labeled “Christmas re-mailing” and address it to the postmaster of one of the towns listed below. Allow enough time for
postmarking, re-mailing, and delivery. You can have your cards and letters postmarked in Christmas, Florida, or Christmas, Michigan.


For non-Christmas holiday or winter cards, consider Star, Texas, or any of the towns named Hope, Faith, Frost, Snow, etc. For a list of towns with holiday names, check out the USPS list.