Let's Talk Paper

Loving letters, I've grown very particular about the paper on which I write. If you've received a letter from me in the last year, chances are it was written on ivory G. Lalo Vergé de France laid paper. It is hands down my favorite paper to write one. I like it so much, when I got my first job out of law school, I ordered 250 pages of it with matching envelopes for writing thank you notes.

The Vergé de France is a luxurious French paper. Differing from the American preference for 100% cotton in premier papers, the French prefer a blend. I read some time ago the French prefer 30% cotton and 70% wood pulp in their premier papers, as the cotton fibers add a nice feel to the paper but, because of the long fiber length, 100% cotton paper is too limp for French sensibilities. By blending cotton fiber with wood pulp, the French produce a stiff paper with a fine feel.

Possibly because of this unique composition, I believe Vergé de France is 25% cotton 75% wood pulp, the paper takes fountain pen ink very well. Ink dries on the paper almost immediately, even when applied with the wettest of nibs. 

As it's sold through several online stores, popular with the fountain pen crowd, I thought everyone knew of the Vergé de France. And, naturally, I assumed everyone loved it the way I do. So, when I began listening to the Fountain Pen Geeks Podcast (which I highly recommend), I was confused when they gave all their devotion to Clairefontaine and Rhodia paper. I was also thrown when the hosts expressed their displeasure with J. Herbin inks. 

So, I took it upon myself to write the Geeks a letter. To make a point, I wrote the letter on Vergé de France with J. Herbin Cacao du Bresil, using my favorite pen. I noted the paper on which I wrote, and as to the inks, pointedly asked, "What gives?"

Well, I was positively tickled when the Geeks read my letter on the air. It spawned a ten minute conversation on the Vergé de France and J. Herbin ink. The consensus was: the ink is awesome, and the paper is superior to Rhodia and Clairefontaine for writing letters. Appropriately, the Geeks gave away a pad of the Vergé de France during the show. To top it off, Geek Eric sent me a response, written on champagne Vergé de France, in a matching envelope, with Cacao du Bresil, which he purchased after receiving my letter. Please forgive the Charlie Sheen reference, but: #WINNING.

A Classic Letter

After much consideration, I decided to respond to the modern black and white pen pal letter with a traditionally themed letter of my own. I chose to write on some of my most favorite stationery, which I use very sparingly - the Toile de Jouy which I purchased as a souvenir from Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. The design is attractive, the paper takes fountain pen ink pretty well, and the envelopes feel fantastic.

And then, as an homage to the original letter, I used a very modern art stamp for postage - my favorite set of postage stamps released in recent memory. And, I finished it off with a faux wax seal. I have no idea why, but as hard as I try, and as much as I practice - I can never seem to pull off a good wax seal on an actual letter! It drives me nuts. This time around, I even put on twice as much faux wax as I normally would, and it Still.Didn't.Turn.Out. Not that I'm going to stop using seals, but I may just have to admit it's another one of those things I'll just never be able to do, along with making a good pot of coffee and whether my father's birthday is on May 3 or 4. Oh well.

Hotel Stationery: Shula's Hotel and Golf Club

It's no secret, if you're a reader of this blog, I love letterhead. What may not be so obvious, however, is how much I crush on hotel stationery.

When first entering a hotel room, many people run to check out the bathroom or jump on the bed; I go to the desk to see if there's hotel specific stationery. Hotel stationery is an extension of a time gone by, when people would go on holiday for weeks on end, settle into a hotel or club - actually put their clothes in the provided bureau or armoire - and use their vacation digs as a temporary home. To accommodate this regular use, and the upper class convention of having engraved stationery for each of their homes, hotels and clubs provided stationery for guest use.

Today, unfortunately, few people are able to stay in a hotel long enough for use of its stationery to be anything more than a novelty. So, most folks I know don't bother to even check for stationery in their vacation accommodations, but I collect it. I get such a kick from it, my wife brings it back for me on her vacations as a souvenir. It's cheaper than a t-shirt, right?

Call it a quirk. Am I alone?

Handmade Personalized Stationery

What do you do when you haven't any fancy stationery on which to write a letter to your pen pal? Why, if you're All My Hues, you create your own. Every letter I've received from her has given me a kick, and every letter has been kept. That's the power of personalized correspondence.

Pulp

Washington, D.C. received as much as 30" in parts of the metropolitan area this past weekend. I live in Washington, D.C. Therefore, I have been stuck inside for the past few days, right? Wrong!

I actually escaped my dwelling place for a couple of days between snow storms (we are in the midst of the second storm as I write) and trudged around the city, making the most of my days off.

During one walking adventure in my soggy Chuck Taylors, I came upon Pulp, a stationery store with as much attitude as its exterior would suggest. I have read several mentions of Pulp on a few of the local blogs that I subscribe to, but had never been there myself. I consider this the first stop in what I hope will become a tour of my local pen, paper and ink stores.

Entering the store, I was greeted by the largest display of sassy, snappy, and charmingly rude greeting cards I have ever seen. The collection began at the front door and stretched all the way to the back, up a staircase, and then back some more. Fantastic as this cache of cards was, I was more in the market for loose stationery.

Luckily, I found some great letterpressed loose sheets (I'll post about them later). And, because I couldn't resist, I also picked up a number of cards (you'll see those posted soon, too).

On the whole, I considered the trip worth the journey. If you're ever in the area and need a cool place to kill some time, or you just really have a hankering for a greeting card that says, "I'm indie, edgy, but still like to celebrate birthdays," then I recommend you pay Pulp, located on 14th and S Streets N.W., a visit.

I have no affiliation with Pulp or any sassy greeting card companies.

Handmade Stationery

I recently received a letter from a pen pal who, in the spirit of the season, hand painted/drew her own stationery. As you can see, it's amazing, and my photographs don't even do it full justice.

This pal always knows how to add special touches that make her letters an absolute joy to read!

Tiki Stationery

A pen pal recently wrote to me on some very chic tiki themed stationery. Above you can see the fun bamboo print on the envelope of the letter as well as the funky sticker used to keep down the flap.


The party continued inside, where I was greeted by this image in the upper left corner of the first page. I think it's a hilarious scene, because it begs so many questions. For example, why is the bartender upset, because he received small remuneration? And why is that shriner at the bar so dismayed... did he run out of cash, was he rejected by the woman at the end of the bar? I want to know! But alas, I doubt that I'll ever find out.

What's your take on the situation?

Maison Orlhac Letter and Envelope

Although I am not French, do not speak French, have never been to France and rarely eat French food, I really wanted to write a France themed letter. So I did. I wrote, long overdue, to a pen pal on some laid paper printed with my Maison Orlhac vintage letterhead. Something about this particular letterhead and that particular paper makes them go very well together.

Then, I used some heavy paper that I purchased at the Paper Cult going-out-of-business sale a couple months ago to make an envelope. As you can see from the photographs, the paper is printed with a travel theme.



Then, to finish the whole thing off, I sealed the envelope with a sticker that came in a set of vintage travel icons purchased at the same Paper Cult sale as the paper for the envelope. If it's not obvious already, I had a very enjoyable time putting this letter together.

The refurbished Maison Orlhac letterhead is now available for download in the Vintage Letterhead Image Archive. Bon letter writing!

They're From Canada, Eh?

The "eh" is cliche, I know. But I just couldn't help myself.

So, I haven't written any letters in the last couple of weeks, but, I have purchased stationery during that time. When I was at We've Got Paper, posting for their giveaway, I made a purchase. And, that purchase arrived today!


In addition to my order, Julie from We've Got Paper threw in four vinyl stickers. Very neat. On top of that, she put some awesome stamps (she mailed from Canada) on the envelope to mail me the stationery!


Although I have no affiliation with We've Got Paper, if you like their products, you should take a gander at their Etsy shop. All their contact info can be conveniently found on their business card:

Market Watch: Stationery Giveaway!

Melissa over at We Love Snail Mail is having a stationery giveaway! From now until October 25, you can enter to receive one of two envelope and paper sets by commenting on the giveaway blog post.

While you're over there, I'd recommend taking a look around the site, and considering signing up as a member on the site. It's a great way to network and find other people who love creative snail mailing as much as you and I!

Eureka! I've (Re)Discovered Stamping!

Back in college I took a printmaking course, which I really enjoyed. But unfortunately, as time moved on, so did my interest in the printed arts. That is, until now! In seeking to create my own stationery, I ventured into my local artists' supply store and found myself looking at linoleum cutting products. A starter kit was only $20, so I bought it. And I haven't looked back since.


My first stamp was a simple address box, pictured above. It's the perfect size, and I really like how the bottom portion of the box allows just enough room to print out in large font the zip code of the addressee. After re-teaching myself how to use the cutting tools, I tried a few increasingly difficult stamps. Then finally I was ready to make my stationery stamp. For this purpose, I selected an image very unique to the District of Columbia, where I live - row houses!

While the townhouse is found in virtually every city in America, the ones in Washington are unique. There are several distinct styles, and they often stand shoulder to shoulder for multiple blocks, each house painted a different color, from pink, to red, to purple, brown, green and ... well, you get it. Anyhow, the image I chose was too tall (these houses are typically 4 stories tall, often plus a basement) so I had to lop the bottom off and use just the top portion.

From beginning to end, this stamp took me around 3 to 3.5 hours to complete. But I think it was worth it. If anything, I found the process incredibly relaxing. And, now I have the ability to produce a virtually endless supply of James-specific papers!

Do any of you stamp or do other types of printing? Do you have links to samples of your work? I'd love to take a gander.

Personal Icons

According to Emily Post, it is perfectly acceptable for an individual to adopt a symbol for use on their stationery. Granted, Emily places limits on the acceptability of this practice, limiting it to stationery used for one's country house, for young girls, etc. In any case, I think that it's a marvelous practice, one in which I myself indulged for a short time. At one point, I adopted the pineapple as my symbol, and though I still have many pieces of stationery with the symbol on it, I now use engraved correspondence cards for professional notes.

This lovely image arrived to me on a card from a pen pal. I don't think that my pal intends on making it his hallmark, but he wanted to send it to me in response to a letter I wrote him on the toile de jouy stationery I purchased while visiting Thomas Jefferson's home, Monticello. This icon is based on Martha Washington's writing desk at Mount Vernon. I just love it. The paper it is printed on is none too shabby, either.

Do you have a personal icon? What is it? If not, what would you like it to be?

Stampy Stationery

As much as I do love writing on homemade stationery (or classy paper that I've embellished or printed letterhead onto), sometimes I stumble across some fantastic printed stationery.


In this case, it was not I who found the stationery, but rather I who received a letter written on this pretty pulp.

Punny Stationery

The Missive Maven got me again! She socked me right in the funny bone with a letter written on this punny stationery.


Oh, and before I frog-et, the Maven sealed the envelope with this sticker:

Souveniers from Monticello

This past weekend some friends and I took a road trip to Monticello, home of Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence and third President of the United States. What does this have to do with Everyday Correspondence, might you ask? Well, I picked up some wonderful stationery and a letter opener at the gift shop.


The stationery set, printed on recycled paper (in honor of T.J.'s dedication to environmental stewardship) came with eight notecards, eight petite notecards, fifteen lined letter sheets and the appropriate envelopes for each. The best part, the price, I got it all for eight bucks!


The pattern on the paper depicts scenes from the Monticello estate in the style of Toile de Jouy cloth. The images were originally created using a technique of printing on plain cotton or linen fabric with engraved copperplates. It is well documented that T.J. purchased many yards of the fabric during his time as United States trade minister to the French Court. Although, it should be noted, he prefered the printed fabric in red.


My other purchase is a letter opener with a pineapple motif. I've long been a huge fan of tasteful pineapple decor. In colonial and early American times, because of it's scarcity, pineapples were often given as gifts. They then came to symbolize both wealth and generosity and worked their way into the decor of many colonial homes.

I have no affiliation with Monticello or it's store, but if you would like to purchase this stationery set, it is available at the official store for $9.99.

Vintage Letterhead Giveaway Contest!

I have a bunch of vintage letterhead reproductions, several of which have been featured here on Everyday Correspondence. Because it will take me a while to feature it all, I have decided to put it to use for the site by giving away a sampler pack!

I have two goals for this contest: 1. to reward readers; and 2. to get the word out about Everyday Correspondence. This contest is for a sampler pack comprised of two of each of the seven vintage letterhead reproductions that I have completed thus far on your choice of either white or ivory Southworth 25% cotton linen finish paper.

To enter, post a link to http://www.everydaycorrespondence.com somewhere on the internet and then take credit for the link in the comments section of this post (don't forget to post a URL where the link may be found).

The link can be posted anywhere, for example in a forum post, on the sidebar of your blog, as a feature post in your blog, the comment section of another blog's post, etc.

The posted link that draws the most traffic wins! A winner will be declared on Saturday, August 1.

NOTE: Deceptive links will not be honored as valid submissions. For example, anchor text "FREE MONEY!" with a link to this site.

Vintage Letterhead Image Archive

To download images, first click on the desired image to display the image in the highest quality available, then simply right click on them and "Save Image As" whatever you'd like to label it.

I recommend printing these two to a page on letter sized paper, to produce two 5.5" x 8.5" sheets when cut.

Intellectual Property Disclaimer: I do not own any of the below images. I do my best only to post images which I believe were created prior to 1923, published without copyright notice, or were otherwise not in compliance with copyright registration and renewal requirements, placing them in the public domain. If you have information to the contrary, please contact me.

1. Hotel Mecca, Cleveland, Ohio. Originally dated 1920. Postcards printed with this image are now available for purchase at the Correspondence Shop.


2. Robot Salesmen Ltd., Liverpool, England. Original date unknown.


3. Paul's Choice Inks & Mucilage, Jersey City, New Jersey. Original produced during the 1890s. Scanned from an original by We Made This.


4. H.N. Heusner & Son, Inc., Hanover, Pennsylvania. Original production date unknown.


5. E.P. Cone Booksellers, Stationers and General News Dealer, Nashville, Tennessee. Originally printed during the 1890s.


6. Maison Orlhac, Paris France. Original dated 1928.


7. George Bateman & Son Limited Brewing Company. Original production date unkown. Scanned from the original by We Made This.


8. The Musicians' Protective Union, Port Townsend, Washington. Original production date unknown. Many thanks to Julie from Whatever for the great find!


9. The Caldwell Brothers Co. Machinery Merchants, Seattle, Washington. Originally dated Oct. 18, 1907.


10. LaFayette Brewery, Inc., LaFayette, Indiana. Original production date unknown.


11. The Smith Premier Typewriter Co., Syracuse, New York. Original production date circa 1899.

This is my collection of "refurbished" vintage letterheads. They are images that I found on vintage stationary around the web and cleaned up using GIMP digital imaging software. It was all free to me, so I don't see any reason why it shouldn't be free to you.

New images will be posted as the letterheads are featured on Everyday Correspondence. Make sure to bookmark this page, or better yet, subscribe to Everyday Correspondence, to get word when new images are added to the archive.

For more free vintage imagery, I recommend the following sites:

Just Something I Made (vintage images)

The Blah, Blah, Blahg (mailing labels/address boxes and vintage-esq images)

Tammy Tutterow (vintage images of paper goods, i.e. forms, book pages)

Letter Writers Alliance (printable V-Mail stationery download)

LetterHeady (great archive of original scan vintage letterheads)

I would also like to give a shout out to The Zoey Blog. Inspired by the Everyday Correspondence Vintage Letterhead Image Archive, the authors of the blog made their very own family letterhead, and it's stupendous.

Updated 03.10.12

Robot Salesmen

This wonderful letterhead was sent off to a pen pal in Florida. So, to keep with the beachy-techie theme, I mailed the letter in an envelope I made from an advertisement I found with pixelated people enjoying the summer weather.


I then wrote the the addresses in block letters using J. Herbin Orange Indien. My topper was a black vintage cinema stamp commemorating a film from the 1930s - I'm just pretending that the film and my stationery are contemporaries. Just let me believe.

Robot Salesmen is now available for download here.

Roaring 20's Themed Letter

I must tell you about my latest fascination: vintage letterheads. I have been finding scans of vintage letterhead online and trying my hand at photo editing to obtain clean images that I can print (on my office color laser printer for max effect) onto quality paper.


This letterhead is from what I assume to be complimentary hotel stationary from the Hotel Mecca in Cleveland, Ohio. The original date (that I digitally removed from the image) was 1920. So, I picked up on that theme and decided to use an envelope I made from a liquor advertisement.


To top it off, I used a vintage black cinema stamp, commemorating the film Hallelujah, released in 1929, and a pair of classic Tiffany lamp 1 cent stamps.


If you would like to use the Hotel Mecca letterhead for your own correspondence, I have posted it for download here. It was free to me, and although I took the time to clean the image up, I see no reason why it shouldn't be free to you.