USPS Archives - Page 2 of 3 - Social Correspondence

A Card in the Mail

Let's Celebrate is a newly released stamp by the U.S. Postal Service Whether it be a birth or birthday, a holiday, or the passing of a friend or loved one, life passages are best celebrated by a note or card in the mail. While an email or response on social media may suffice, there is no better way to communicate than a hand-written note or card. A recent survey by Morning Consult indicates that the U.S. Postal Service is, overall, the most trusted brand in America, ranked highest by Gen X and boomers. So when you…

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February 18, 2020

city living / Grandparenting / Handwriting / Letter writing / Mail / Mailboxes / Note cards / Post cards / Post Office / Postal Service / U.S. Postal Service

Notes for the New Year

The last of the cards and notes for the New Year come in a slow, uneven trickle, soon to be but a memory. Second to reunions and celebrations with friends and family, these physical notes, photos and greetings are my favorite part of the end of the year rituals, helping me to stay in touch with people who are important to me, both near and far. The post office continues to play an important part in people’s lives, judging by the crowds standing in line to mail packages and letters, either at the automated machines or…

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January 16, 2020

books / Handwriting / junk mail / Letter writing / Mail / Note cards / Post cards / U.S. Postal Service

What’s in the Mail

It’s an old habit that is hard to shake; each morning I wonder, what’s in the mail today? Thanks to the USPS’s Informed Delivery service, one need not wonder. Informed Delivery sends an email with images of most letter-sized pieces that will be arriving that day. But even without the preview, contents of the daily mail are fairly predictable. Count on some form of advertising, whether printed on newspaper stock, post cards, or flyers. Solicitations from charitable organizations proliferate. Soon, prior to November elections, we will be deluged with political flyers in the mail. All of…

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August 31, 2019

BMT Q Car Number 1612C (1908, rebuilt 1938), New York Transit Museum

Grandparenting / Mail / Postal Service / Train travel / Trains / Travel / U.S. Postal Service

Riding the Train

BMT Q Car Number 1612C (1908, rebuilt 1938), New York Transit Museum Riding the train is one of the great joys for my three-year old grandson. Specifically, he likes to ride the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s (MTA) F train, although the G train might do in a pinch. The F train runs from Jamaica, Queens to Coney Island, Brooklyn, and my grandson is familiar with every Brooklyn stop. As he pushes his toy trains across the table or floor, he mimics the automated train voice that intones, “Stand clear of the closing doors, please.” …

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July 18, 2019

EllsworthKelly2019-Block10-v2

Letter writing / Mail / Note cards / Postal Service / Stamps / U.S. Postal Service

The Art of the Stamp

EllsworthKelly2019-Block10-v2 For those of us who write and mail letters, consider the art of the stamp. Gone are the days of simply buying a roll of one hundred flag stamps. Today, there are many options of Forever First Class stamps to coordinate with the mood or theme of your letter or note. Perhaps you are a lover of modern art. If so, you will enjoy the recent issue of stamps highlighting the abstract art of Ellsworth Kelley. A set of 20 of the new stamps feature ten beautiful paintings. “Ellsworth Kelly honed his artistic voice as…

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June 22, 2019

Birds in Winter. Image courtesy of USPS

Letter writing / Mail / Memorabilia / Post Office / Postal Service / Stamps / U.S. Postal Service / War letters

More About Stamps

Stamps have been in the news recently. The surfacing of a rare inverted Jenny stamp, a dispute over the use of an image of the Statue of Liberty, and new releases of novel, innovative and popular stamp motifs have all received media attention in recent months. New stamps, now on sale at post offices or online through USPS.com, include four new holiday stamps as well as re-releases of past popular images; a World War I commemorative stamp; Hot Wheels; Birds in Winter; Dragons; the much anticipated John Lennon stamp; and others. John Lennon The John…

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October 17, 2018

John Lennon stamp will be releases on Sept. 7

Letter writing / Mail / Mailboxes / Politics / Post cards / Post Office / Post Office Boxes / Postal Service / Stamps / U.S. Postal Service

What’s New at the Post Office

Services, facilities and politics are evolving at the USPS. So, what’s new at the post office? One service I tried out this year and have found very helpful is Informed Delivery. Launched in the spring of 2017, Informed Delivery provides the postal customer with a daily email, which includes photocopies of the letter sized pieces to be delivered in that day’s mail, as well as notification of anticipated packages. Given the massive quantities of junk mail that the average customer receives, this service is valuable in anticipating important letters and documents. If you haven’t yet signed…

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July 2, 2018

Mister Rogers Forever Stamp

Postal Service / U.S. Postal Service

USPS Releases Mister Rogers Forever Stamp

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, as the mother of young children, Fred Rogers of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood on PBS was my hero. Mister Rogers taught children his wise and fulfilling lessons about the world and their own self worth, while also serving as a role model for parents. Many of the oft-repeated aphorisms of Mister Rogers have remained with me throughout my adult life. If I have not always practiced them, it is not because I do not believe them. Who cannot see the intrinsic value of being told, “There is no person in…

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February 20, 2018

Americans rely on mail delivery for letters, packages, checks, medications and more

Mail / Mailboxes / News / Postal Service / U.S. Postal Service

Heroic Postal Carriers

Modern day heroes, including heroic postal carriers, have a way of emerging during catastrophic times. Ordinary men and women, going about the daily business of life and work, step up to the plate to perform heroic acts during the most trying of events. This fall has presented many life changing challenges, as well as opportunities for such heroism. Hurricanes and floods battered and inundated Texas, Florida, Louisiana, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and beyond. Earthquakes in central and southern Mexico shattered buildings and lives. Closer to home, in the San Francisco Bay Area, wildfires are…

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October 18, 2017

Protect Pollinators stamps

Letter writing / Mail / Postal Service / Stamps / U.S. Postal Service

Banner Year for Stamps

If you like to put something pretty, creative or unique on your envelopes, this has been a banner year for stamps. From the transformative Total Solar Eclipse stamp to the newly released Protect Pollinators or Sharks Forever stamps, the U.S. Postal Service has a Forever stamp for you. My personal preferences for stamps include nature, animals, art, and literature. Fortunately, many of stamps issued this year, or yet to be issued in 2017, fit in at least one of these categories, and often more than one. Following four years of drought in California, our yard was…

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August 9, 2017