A Rose By Any Other Name

 

Portrait of Rembrandt’s brother Rubens Peale

As I was looking through my postage stamps and pondering ideas for February post, I came across an interesting stamp featuring the art of Rembrandt Peale. I was quite interested in his unique name. How did an American artist born February 22, 1778 come by such an appropriate name? I wondered did he change his name himself after he became an artist or did he decide to live up to his artistic name and pursue art?

Rembrandt Peale’s Washington

My research revealed that Rembrandt’s father, famed Revolutionary War painter Charles Wilson Peale, named many of his children after famous artists. Rembrandt’s siblings included Raphaelle Peale, Rubens Peale, Titian Peale, Angelica Kauffman Peale and Sophonisaba Angusciola Peale to name a few of the Peale clan named after artists!! Charles taught all of the children how to draw and paint from an early age. How interesting to me that these Peale offspring went on to become artists in their own right. Rembrandt in particular became a famous portrait artist and painted over 600 paintings. Some of his subjects included George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Napoleon Bonaparte, James Monroe and John Marshall. 

All of this interesting discovery got me interested in the power of a name. Names are deeply important to us. As a labor and delivery nurse I often bear witness to the careful deliberations of parents as they choose a  name for their fresh offspring. As a witness to birth over the past 30 years I have noticed there are definitely trends and fashion in names. 

Names have a way of rooting us to our history and establishing our identity. But does it really matter? Do we become what we’re called or are we called what we already are? I am always fascinated by the symbolic importance of the names in the Bible. It is full of names and name changes that are wrought with meaning. 

The poem, Each Man Has A Name by the Jewish poet Zelda, is beautiful and thought provoking...

Each of us has a name given by God 

And given by our parents. 

Each of us has a name given by our stature 

And our smile and given by what we wear. 

Each of us has a name given by the stars 

And given by our neighbors. 

Each of us has a name given by our sins 

And given by our longing.

Each of us has a name given by our enemies

And given by our love.

Each of us has a name given by our celebrations

And given by our work. 

Each of us has a name given by the seasons

And given by our blindness.

Each of us has a name given by the sea

And given by our death. 

I thought of sending some snailmail in celebration of names. We all have interesting stories about why we were given our names or why we chose our children’s names. Do you have any interesting names in your family tree? Why not share the story with your pen pal? I’m sure it would make quite an interesting letter!!

Did you know I have a relative called Napoleon Bonaparte Whitley in my family tree? I wonder how tall he was? 🤔

Go postal, people! 

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy

And I Quote...Snailmail Rocks!

 

Our letters, unless you write radically different from me, contain, by definition, pretty much all our own words. But I’ve discovered that most of my fellow snailmail enthusiasts are often logophiles (word lovers), philologos (lovers of words) or logomaniacs (obsessively interested in words)! 🙋🏼‍♀️ 😉 

“Well done is better than well said.” Benjamin Franklin

I decided that an interesting idea for a letter might be to write a letter using other people’s words as much as possible!🤔💡 These can be quotes that are famous and inspiring and something you read in a book...or it can be something your first grade teacher said to you that changed your life! Or devastated it. 😕

“That’s one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind.” Neil Armstrong

A few things I’ve shared with and asked of some of my pen friends include:

What is your favorite line in your favorite book?

“The truth does not change according to our ability to stomach it.” Flannery O’Connor

What are your ten favorite quotes about love?

“I carry your heart with me, I carry it in my heart.” E.E. Cummings

What are your five favorite poems? 

“Only by acceptance of the past will you alter its meaning.” T.S. Eliot

What is the most important thing anyone ever told you?

“Imagination is more important than knowledge.” Albert Einstein

What word always makes you think of someone who has passed away? 

Take these bits of other people's words and turn them into a interesting letter for a fellow logophile penpal! Words are powerful! Those that have shaped our lives are an interesting part of our individual life stories. Words can encourage and strengthen others, heal wounded hearts and bring delight! So share some today! 

Go postal, people! It’s a beautiful thing!

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy 

Going Parcel Post

Mrs. Murphy’s Mailbox is a snailmail blog that celebrates sending things through the post, obviously, but I simply cannot condone what Mr. and Mrs. Pierstorff sent through the mail on February 19, 1914!! 🤨

The Pierstorff’s took advantage of the affordable, recently initiated Parcel Post service and sent their daughter, Charlotte May, through the mail to her grandmother’s house!! 😳

Five-year-old Charlotte May Pierstorff was sent by her parents from Grangeville, Idaho, to her grandparents 73 miles away.  They placed 53¢ in stamps on her coat and handed her over to the postal worker on the railway mail train, who also happened to be her relative.  Despite her safe delivery to her grandmother’s doorstep, once Postmaster General Albert S. Burleson heard her story, he officially prohibited postal workers from accepting humans to be mailed. Even after this, some people still attempted to mail children, but postmasters rejected their applications claiming they couldn’t be classified as “harmless live animals.” 😂 

You can read about Charlotte May’s adventure via the postal service in the book, Mailing May by Michael O. Tunnel and Ted Rand. 

February is Letter Month and I am all in favor of sending fun and interesting mail! In this time of difficult travel it would be fun if we could simply mail ourselves to visit our far away friends and penpals. Perhaps we can... 🤔 See the adventures of The Mailable Mrs. Murphy here: Be A (Paper) Doll Send Fun Mail

Go postal, people! (But don’t be the post!)

XOXO

Mrs. Murphy 

Snailmail! A Recipe For Happiness!

 

When I was kid there were no children’s television channels. Saturday mornings offered a few hours of cartoons while the after school time slot had a game show or two and Brady Bunch re-runs. I guess that’s why we played out in the neighborhood so much. 

Meanwhile this lack of children’s programming wasn’t much of a problem until one was home sick. In between naps and coloring books I would lie on the couch and flip through the four channels. The three networks had soap operas 🤮 so that left PBS.

 I have a few memories of watching “The Electric Company”, “Sesame Street”, and “Mr. Rogers”, of course, which were geared for young children. But I also enjoyed “Lilias, Yoga and You”, “The Frugal Gourmet”, “The Joy of Painting” and “Masterpiece.” 

One of my favorites, by far, was “The French Chef” with Julia Child. I loved her!! She was funny and natural and made me want to try cooking! Sometimes she would do things on the show, like trussing up a chicken with a giant needle or flipping a potato pancake that simply fascinated me. She instilled confidence in her viewers by telling them, “If I can do it, you can, too!” I loved her. She wrote many cook books, basically pioneered the cooking show and introduced America to French cuisine. Oh, and she was a spy during WW2. 😎 I told you she was cool. 

Over the years I’ve read and watched many things on Julia Child. Her life was so interesting and so full of joy! In short, she was amazing. Definitely one of my heroines. 🥰 Not too long ago I made homemade croissants for the first time. I remember watching Julia do it on The French Chef...beating the butter with her rolling pin and making the turns. I presented my croissants a few months ago at family dinner with a homemade soup. I was delighted when Super Murphy Boy pronounced, “These are the best things ever, Mom!” 

Thanks, Julia!! ☺️❤️

In honor of Julia Child I thought I would send some of my favorite Julia inspired recipes in the mail to my more culinary-minded penpals!  A recipe for happiness, wouldn’t you agree? 😋 💌 Now to get my hands on one of those great Julia Child postage stamps!!  🥰 😎

Bon Appetit, my postal pals! 

XOXO 

Mrs. Murphy

“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.” Julia Child.  

Yours Devotedly and Lovingly

2021 LOVE stamp

 

If ever there was a stamp series that has truly captured my heart (pun only slightly intended), it is the LOVE series by the USPS. The LOVE stamp was first introduced in 1973. The LOVE stamps are usually issued in time for Valentine mailing and feature designs filled with traditional symbols of love. The first ever USPS LOVE stamp was designed by American artist Robert Indiana. He was associated with the Pop art movement of the 1950s and 1960s and his LOVE sculpture was the basis for his stamp design. The stamp was released in Philadelphia, the “City of Brotherly Love” on January 26, 1973. 

First LOVE stamp 1973 issue

The postal service didn’t see it as the start of a new series. They described it as “A special stamp for someone special.” They printed more than 320 million stamps and it was very popular. Although the usual grumps and negative nay-sayers called it a “hippie stamp”. 🙄 

Second LOVE stamp 1982 issue

When the postal rates changed, the public asked for the USPS to reissue the LOVE stamp at the new first class rate, but they didn’t, not for a long time. Requests for another LOVE stamp began to pour into the USPS and finally in 1982, they released a second stamp. In 1984 a third LOVE stamp was released, but the USPS still did not consider the three stamps part of a series. They were very popular, however and the LOVE stamps were always issued in higher quantities and were available for longer lengths of time than regular commemorative stamps. People began using them for weddings, birthdays, anniversaries and for that literary classic, the love letter! 💌 🥰

Third LOVE stamp 1984 issue

The love-themed stamps continued in this manner until 1987 when the USPS officially announced that they would issue a new LOVE stamp every year!! 🥳 Hallelujah! Success may be a series of small victories, but LOVE is a series of delightful postage stamps, at least for a postal nerd like me! 😉🥰📬

1985 LOVE stamp. Issued on the set of the TV show LOVE BOAT! 

I think snailmail is a truly wonderful way to share love with the world. Just this week I received four pieces of mail that totally brightened my day and filled me with love!! Doesn’t the world need more of that right about now!?!?!?! 🤨 

1991 LOVE stamp and one of Mrs. Murphy’s favorites. 🥰

Join me in this postal love fest and send some snailmail to the people in your life!! And don’t forget to use a LOVE stamp!!

1992 LOVE stamp

Yours devotedly and lovingly, 

Mrs. Murphy 🥰

XOXO

Stopping By Woods...And Mailbox!

 

Robert Frost is one of my favorite poets...mine and most of America’s. Despite his New England focused poetry, Robert was born in San Francisco. Like most interesting people, Robert Frost faced hardships in his life. Robert was only 11 when his father passed away. His mother moved the family to Massachusetts after his father died to live with Robert’s grandparents. 

Although he was co-valedictorian of his high school class he ended up dropping out of both Dartmouth and Harvard, claiming that college did not inspire him. He had a varied series of jobs as a young man including shoemaker, teacher and editor, but his real love was writing poetry. 

He married his high school sweetheart and co-valedictorian, Elinor Miriam White in 1895. They had six children, two boys and four girls. Elliot, the eldest, and Elinor, the youngest, both died in childhood, however. The Frost family lived on a farm in Derry, New Hampshire, although according to his neighbors he wasn’t much of a farmer. I think he was more inspired by the land than interested in farming it. The Frosts moved to England for several years during which Robert made connections in the literary world and published his first books. The family returned to America in 1915 and his books and poetry were published in the States. By the 1920s, Robert Frost had become one of America’s most beloved poets. He later taught college classes and even read one of his poems at JFK’s presidential inauguration. 

During his lifetime, he received four Pulitzer Prizes for poetry. In 1960, he was awarded the Congressional Gold Medal for poetry. And of course, he has been honored on a US postage stamp! 🥳

 So why is Mr. Frost’s poetry so appealing? Frost’s poetry describes lovely scenes from nature, such as an apple orchard, a farmer’s stone wall, or a man traveling through the woods on a snowy evening. Underneath those pleasing scenes, though, Frost’s poetry has a deeper, more complex meaning. I remember reading some of Frost’s poetry as a kid and thinking one thing about it, but as I’ve gotten older and I read it again I come away with a different feeling. I think that is what good poetry is supposed to do. 🤔 There is always something new to learn when I read his poems. 🥰 

I thought I would send a wonderful Robert Frost book to some little penpals. Nothing like introducing the next generation to one of America’s greatest poets. Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening was published as a children’s picture book with illustrations by Susan Jeffers in 1978. The illustrations are charming! I hope my penpals like Mr. Frost’s poems as much as I do! 

Illustration by Susan Jeffers

This winter I hope you get a chance to appreciate the simple things in life, the woods on a snowy evening, a beautiful poem and a letter in your mailbox. 🥰📬

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy 

Once Upon A Time.. I Opened the Mailbox

 I love stories. I think that’s why I love snailmail so much. I can read the stories of my friends’ lives and share mine with them. While I’m sure my life story is thrilling,🙄 why not send a REAL book through the post?

 

February 14 is International Book Giving Day! A group of volunteers who wanted every child in the world to have a book, started International Book Giving Day in 2012. Their goals also include increasing children’s enthusiasm for books and reading by encouraging everyone to give a book to someone else!! 

The Imagination Library is a similar initiative started by Dolly Parton in 1995. Inspired by her father’s inability to read and write Dolly started her program for the children within her home county in East Tennessee. Her Imagination Library currently is active in five countries and gives over 1 million free books each month to children around the world!! These free books come in the mail!! Yay!! Talk about a good mail day! 

I plan on sending some book post during Letter Month and of course, I’ll include a letter telling my penpal all about my love of the story. 

Read on, postal pals! 

XOXO, 

Mrs. Murphy

Snailmail... Always An Encourage-mint!

During my childhood when my sweet mother would return home from shopping or running errands I would always ask hopefully, “Did you bring me a treat?” (I ask Mr. Murphy the same question ☺️) More often than not Mom would smile and hand me a lovely York Peppermint Pattie. She usually had one for herself, too.

 

Imagine my delight when I discovered that February 11 is National Peppermint Pattie Day!! My research revealed that chocolate covered mint confections can be traced back to the 1700s in Europe. In the US, as early as 1900 peppermint patties were made by various confectioners, but it wasn’t until Henry Kessler of the York Cone company got involved that peppermint candy really  got popular. Apparently chocolate covered caramels and bonbons were delicious, but the chocolate covered peppermint was substandard...the peppermint was soft and gummy. 😕 In 1940 Mr. Kessler figured out a way to make the center crisp, firm and delectable. He named the treat the “York Peppermint Pattie” and began selling his treat throughout the United States. The Peppermint Pattie because so popular that Kessler gave up his ice cream cone business and focused exclusively on it! (Way to go, Henry! I’m grateful for your perseverance.) 😋 

I’m not sure of the origins of National Peppermint Pattie Day. February 11th is not Mr. Kessler’s birthday, or the anniversary of his death. 🤔 Perhaps it was the day he dreamed up his magical recipe for deliciousness!! Whatever the reason for it’s creation, I am happy to to have another day to celebrate with snailmail!! 

Those York Peppermint Patties are not only tasty they have a shape that works well for snailmail. I made some circular cutouts, added a few loving words and presto! Some happy snailmail senti-mints! 😉 If they only had their own postage stamp. 

Won’t you join me in these silly celebrations? Let’s try to make everyday a good mail day! 

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy

Snailmail! It May Take Thyme But It’s Kind of a Big Dill!

 

I love an herb garden! 🌿 They look beautiful and smell wonderful! And according to my daughter-in-law they are relatively easy to grow!! She has been cultivating some herbs in an indoor garden this fall and winter and they are growing quite well. In fact, she is looking for recipes and ideas to keep up with her bountiful harvest. 🪴 😁 

I thought I would look through my recipe collection and send her some herb infused snailmail!! Sounds spicy, no? 😏  

When I think of ways to use spices like basil, oregano and parsley the first thing that comes to my mind is...PIZZA!!! Yay! 🍕 I’m pretty sure pizza is my all time favorite food. 🤤 Isn’t it wonderful, then, that February 9th is National Pizza Day!?

 According to the interwebs, Antica Pizzeria, widely believed to be the world’s first pizzeria, opened in Naples, Italy in 1738. America had to wait for more than 150 years for pizza to arrive on it’s lovely shores. Genarro Lombardi, the first pizzeria in the United States, opened in 1895 in New York City...and the rest, as they say, is history!!

 Celebrate Pizza Day and Letter Month by sending your favorite penpal (🙋🏼‍♀️) an invitation to grab a pizza, or a coupon for a pizza, or a recipe for the perfect crust...seriously, if you have that recipe send it to me...or a gift card for pizza, or simply tell the story of your favorite pizza experience ever. 🥰 That sounds like a slice of heaven to me! (Please don’t think I’m a weirdough!) 😜I can’t help myself. 

Another fun idea is to send some “season’s greetings!” 😂 (Herbs make for the best puns!🪴) I saw this idea at Christmas, but I think it will work anytime! Create your favorite seasoning blend, package it in a cute envelope and mail it to your penpal with your favorite recipe included. Obviously this would be even better if you had grown your own herbs to include in these season’s greetings! 

These clever “season’s greetings” don’t have to use only culinary herbs. One could make up a potpourri mixture as well. This is my first venture into spice mail...that sounds rather naughty, doesn’t it? 😳...so I will let you know how it goes. I’m thinking I will seal the spice mixtures in a plastic bag before I put them into their paper envelopes. One mustn’t overwhelm the mail carrier. 😉 

Hopefully you are inspired to grow some herbs, eat a pizza and, of course, send some SNAILMAIL!!! 🐌 📬

Go postal, people. 

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy