From Grandmother’s House the Mail Goes!

 

Greetings, fellow snailmail enthusiasts!! 😁 I do apologize for the long delay but I am excited to announce that I am now a GRANNY!!! 🥳👵🏻 Anyway, I have been focusing on Baby Murphette these past months and haven’t really done much in the way of snailmail. I did however, send her the first of (hopefully) many letters I will write over the course of my lifetime! My own dear grandmother was my very first penpal. Her frequent cards and letters were what started my lifelong love of all things postal. ❤️ 📬 🐌

As I was contemplating this new identity of grandmother, I was reminded of a grandparent themed postage stamp I have. A 1969 $0.06 postage stamp featuring a Grandma Moses painting. Grandma Moses is such an interesting Grandmother!! I learned from the Smithsonian that Anna Mary Robertson Moses (Grandma Moses) grew up on a farm in upstate New York. She worked as a hired girl starting at the age of 12. Her tasks included helping neighbors and relatives with cleaning, cooking, and sewing. At the age of 92 she wrote about her love of drawing and painting, “My father would get me and my brothers white paper by the sheet. He liked to see us draw pictures. It was a penny a sheet and lasted longer than candy!” She used berry and grape juices to brighten her images. Alas, the difficulty of farm life allowed her little time to pursue her art. 

She married when she was 27 and moved to a farm in Virginia. She and her husband, Thomas Moses, had 10 children but only five survived beyond infancy. Life was pretty tough for the Moses family.  Mrs. Moses supplemented the family income by making potato chips and churning butter. They later moved back to New York and farmed near Eagle Bridge. 

Grandma Moses did not start painting until she was 77 years old and looking for something to do “to keep busy and out of mischief” after her husband died. She painted nostalgic scenes of American life and sold them at country fairs alongside her prize-winning pickles. In 1939 a collector saw her paintings in the window of the local pharmacy and bought them all. Soon after, Hallmark purchased the rights to reproduce her paintings on greeting cards and the name Grandma Moses became known across the country. She died at 101, after painting more than 1500 images. In November 2006, her 1943 work Sugaring Off became her highest-selling work at $1.2 million!! 

I am inspired by Grandma Moses to pursue my interests and passions well into advanced years! It’s never too late to start something new. Snailmail is a great hobby to pursue. Not only does it give you an opportunity to be creative, it connects you with others and hopefully brings them joy, too! 

Won’t you join me in sending some post today? I recommend sending something to your grandchild! 🥰 (Tell them all about your hobbies!) 

Go postal, people!! In a good way!! 

XOXO, 

Mrs. Murphy