Shake Things Up! Send Some Snail Mail!

 

A recent perusal of my postage stamp collection reminded me I had a few of those fabulous Soda Fountain Forever stamps issued in 2016. These fun stamps are perfect for sending summer mail! And furthermore, did you know June 20th is National Vanilla Milkshake Day? It also happens to be the official first day of summer this year! 😎 Sounds like an excellent reason to send some mail! 

Way back in 2016 when the USPS held the dedication ceremony for the Soda Fountain Forever stamps, postal employee Nancy Rettinhouse stated, “It is our hope at the United States Postal Service that the stamps we are issuing today will spur nostalgia in everyone mailing or receiving postcards, letters and packages.”

It definitely spurred nostalgia in me. 🥰 My personal family history is replete with soda fountain stories. Mr. Murphy and I have, of course, shared many a romantic chocolate soda, root beer float and green river at some of our favorite soda fountains through the years… (one shake, two straws! 😘)…  but my personal favorite is a love story. A romantic tale about a tall, quiet milkman and the beautiful, young soda fountain girl he saw on his daily delivery of milk and ice cream. Yep, that’s how my grandparents met. My grandfather was a milkman and my grandmother worked at the soda fountain!

  

(My milkshake brings all the boys to the yard. And they're like, it's better than yours 🎶 - 😝 Wait, no…that’s my Gran! 😜) 

Anyway, they met at the soda fountain and the rest, as they say is history! Do I owe my very existence, in part to the sublime deliciousness that is the milkshake? 🤔 I think perhaps, I do! 

Now that is an excellent reason to celebrate the sweet treats of the soda fountain and send some snailmail on Vanilla Milkshake Day! 

Go postal people! In a good way!

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy

 

Write Til Your Ink Be Dry…Thy Mailbox Lies Barren!!

 

It has been 460 years since the birth of Shakespeare, but his words still live on. I particularly like that line from Two Gentlemen from Verona, 

“Write till your ink be dry and with your tears moist it again, and frame some feeling line that may discover such integrity.”

They’re surely talking about keeping up their correspondence, right? 😉 

I was first introduced to Shakespeare by Mrs. Hultgren, my high school English teacher. She loved the Bard and tried to inspire her somewhat reluctant students with his greatness. We memorized monologues, read whole plays aloud in class and took turns acting out our favorite death scenes. “Et tu, Brute?” 😵 

At first I struggled with the language. What is this guy taking about?!? But the more I read the easier it became. I soon got swept up in the stories which were amazing… both witty and profound. In the end it’s the words that do it for me. Shakespeare invented so many phrases, clever quips and salty insults. A lot of his lingo is still in use today. Here is just a sampling of what I discovered with the help of those interwebs…

• as luck would have it
•  bated breath
•  the be-all and the end-all
•  break the ice
• brave new world
• cold comfort
• dead as a doornail
• the dogs of war
• faint-hearted
• for goodness sake
• foregone conclusion
• good riddance
• kill with kindness
• laughing stock
• one fell swoop
• wear my heart upon my sleeve
• wild-goose chase

Isn’t that amazing? Four and a half centuries later and Shakespearean quips are still common! 

So in honor of the greatest English writer of all time, I decided to send a Shakespeare inspired letter to a friend in honor of her birthday. She loves books and words as I do so I hope she will enjoy it! 

“To be a well-favoured man is the gift of fortune; but to write and read comes by nature.” (Much Ado About Nothing)

Hie thee, good folk, and let thy missives fly with all haste!

XOXO, 

Mrs. Murphy 

Go for the Gold…and the Mailbox!!!

 

Summer is great. You’ve got vacations, ice cream, parades, watermelon and swimming!! But every four years it’s even more fun…2024 is an Olympic year!! Woo Hoo! 

Inspired by this historic sporting competition I looked through my postage for some Olympic themed postage stamps. There are some really great vintage Olympic stamps! 

I always encourage non-postal people to look at the stamps on any mail they receive. For anyone with any interest in art, history, culture, geography, sports, science, beauty, life - really…there’s something for you to discover on a postage stamp!!! The Olympics is no exception. 

I wrote my Olympic themed letter to a friend with a family I thought might be interested in the Olympic Games. I described some past Murphy Olympic activities and challenged them to follow the Paris Olympics this summer. Perhaps they can learn something about the countries the athletes come from or study the flags of all the nations and make some paper copies to fly around the house. It’s always fun to follow the medal count! They can even create their own backyard Olympic Games that the whole family can participate in! Don’t forget the medals! 

And of course, if they do any of these awesome Olympic activities they must write back to Mrs. Murphy and tell me all about it!! 

Go Postal, People!! (And Go for the Gold!! 🏅)

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy 

My Olympic Snailmail 🏅 🐌 📬 

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 

Postal Rates May Be Going Up … But So Are Our Spirits!!

 

I don’t know if you’ve heard the news, but the USPS has announced another increase in postal rates. 😕 Starting July 10, 2022 it will cost $0.60 for a first class postage stamp. 

While this is can be frustrating to a snailmail enthusiast (and normal people, too😏), I want to encourage you to send some good, old-fashioned post. I believe there is something truly special about writing and receiving a real letter. 

Letters matter. Have you ever been to a history museum? I am always amazed by the impact a letter can have. A million possessions have deteriorated into nothingness but fragile pieces of paper have been preserved for generations. Letters have special meaning and meaningful words are worth reading over and over.

An actual ink-on-the-paper, stamp-on-the-envelope letter communicates much more than the words on the page. A real letter confirms the importance of your recipient. Sending a thoughtful note to someone shows you cherish a relationship and want to invest in it. 

Writing real letters helps you pause long enough to say things that matter. When I text I often respond with one word, or even an emoji. 👍 🙄 Texting and email are mostly reactionary. Writing letters is much more thoughtful and purposeful. You do it to give, not to receive. 

Real mail brings so much joy!! Today’s mail is mostly bills and junk. If you take the time to craft a letter, affix a postage stamp and drop it in the mail, you may have single-handedly rescued someone from a bad day! Finding some “good mail” in one’s mailbox is truly magical and serendipitous! 

So while it’s true that inflation seems to be affecting everything,😫I encourage you to keep up your correspondence. It’s a wonderful, worthwhile hobby! 

Go postal, people!! In a good way! 

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy 

Viva La Snailmail!!

 

I think a lot about birthdays. As a labor and delivery nurse birth is my business, after all! And as a snailmail enthusiast what better reason is there for sending post? At the beginning of the year I make a list of all my important birthdays. January is a big month for the Murphy family!! I have many family members and friends that start the calendar year with a birthday. 🥳 🎂 

A birthday is a new beginning!

A birthday is the first day of another lovely year,

A year of new tomorrows that is shining, bright and clear,

A year of possibilities as endless as the sky, and a chance to meet the challenges in everything you try! 

I know a certain someone who has always loved miniature things. I thought it would be fun to send a miniature birthday party package! One balloon to blow up, one birthday cake flavored cookie, one small birthday letter, a tiny package of confetti! A little package with a large portion of joy, I hope! 📦 

Being present at so many births makes me think of the connection one has with all the other people being born on the exact same day down through the centuries!! January is the birthday month of many interesting folks! And some of them have been memorialized on a postage stamp! A postage stamp connection with my postage stamp collection. 🥰 Yay! 

One of my favorite January birthday boys is, none other than, Elvis Presley!! His first commemorative postage stamp is the best-selling US postage stamp in postal history! The USPS printed 517 million Elvis stamps in 1993. 🤯 That’s three times the usual print run for a commemorative. Elvis has another stamp that was issued in his honor in 2015. If you’re not lucky enough to have one of these great stamps in your collection, you can always purchase unused vintage postage from online postage stamp shops.  (One of my favorites is www.edelweisspost.com) 😊 Don’t be afraid to use unused vintage postage on your snailmail creations today!! Just make sure that the total value of stamps adds up to the current postal rate for a first class letter! ($0.58 as of January 2022)

I’m thinking about making an Elvis themed birthday package for a few of my January birthday friends. Nothing like celebrating with the King! Viva La Snailmail!! 

One of the most important things to remember when you are making your birthday list is not to worry if you can’t get to everyone on your list in a timely manner. Even if the wishes are belated, I’ve found that birthday post always makes a “good mail day!” So just keep sending snailmail!! 

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

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy 🥳

Moonlight Mail! 🌙

I was driving home from work the other night and the fields were glistening with snow in the moonlight. It was so beautiful. It brought to mind a line from Shelley…

  The cold earth slept below;

       Above the cold sky shone;

I was reminded of one night I was driving home in the winter under a bright full moon. The moonlight was reflecting off the snowy fields so brightly that it almost seemed like day! I even turned my lights off, only very briefly, to see just how bright it really was!! (It turned out I still needed headlights! 😳 LOL!) 

All these thoughts of the winter moon reminded me of a lovely children’s book I read to the MurphyBros when they were young. Owl Moon by Jane Yolen. It is a lovely story about a father who takes his child “owling” on a cold winter’s night. The watercolor illustrations are wonderful, too! 

I’ve recently discovered that there are names for the full moons. According to the Old Farmer’s Almanac the January Moon is the Wolf Moon. The names they have chosen for each monthly moon come from a number of sources, including Native American, Colonial American and European traditions. 

January’s full moon is called the Wolf Moon. It is thought that it was so named because wolves were more likely to be heard howling at this time. 

Is there a friend or family member you only hear from once in a blue moon? Why not send them some mail? You can relate a moon story of your own!! 

Take inspiration from everything around you! Tell a story, recall a poem, draw a picture, share some postage!! Send some moonlight mail to someone you love!!

Go postal, people!! (In a good way😊 📬)

XOXO 

Mrs. Murphy

Snailmail is the Best! Scout’s Honor!

 

I was at work the other day when a troop of Girl Scouts asked to drop off a gift basket for the first baby girl born on October 31st. 🤔 Huh? Was this some sort of Halloween thing? In my 30 year labor and delivery career I’ve seen gift baskets given for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day, Christmas Day and, of course, the New Year’s Baby! But Halloween? Not once. 

The Girl Scouts explained that Juliette Low, the organizer of the Girl Scouts, was born on October 31, 1860. She was inspired by Sir Robert Baden Powell and his wife Agnes whom she met in 1911. The Baden-Powells founded the Boy Scouts and the Girl Guides in England in 1908 and 1910, respectively. Juliette brought the idea to America and the first gathering took place on March 12, 1912. 

The first registered member of the American Girl Guides was Margaret Gordon, Juliette’s niece.  The next year, the name was changed to Girl Scouts. That first meeting had 18 members in attendance. By 1920 there were close to 70,000 members. By 1930 there were over 200,000 members. Today there are 2.5 million members! 

The Girl Scout motto is “Be prepared” and the slogan is “Do a good turn daily.” Our local Girl Scouts and their leaders certainly lived out their slogan!! They were so thoughtful and generous and the new baby and her family were very grateful for the lovely gift basket! 

The USPS has celebrated Girl Scouts through the years with some lovely postage stamps. Do you know any current or former Girl Scouts? I bet you do!! From Queen Elizabeth to Queen Latifah many people have been Girl Scouts (Guides). My fellow nurses and I recalled our own experiences with Girl Scouts. I was only a Girl Scout for the Brownie years, but I’ve never stopped eating those cookies. 😉 

Do you have any scouting memories? Why not share them with one of your penpals? 

Do they have any badges for letter writing? 🤔 ✍🏻 📬 🐌 

Go postal, people, it’s amazing! Scout’s honor. 😊

XOXO, 

Mrs. Murphy 

When The Frost is on the Mailbox

Thanks to the wonderful world of postage stamps, I have been introduced to many interesting, and often times unknown to me, individuals. I particularly enjoy the poets. Poetry was a subject I had only a little exposure to in school. I read the works of just a few poets, knew of just a few poets. But as I got more involved with letter writing and stamp collecting, I would study the stamps and their subject matter. History, poetry, literature, art! It’s all there on a postage stamp. 🤩

James Whitcomb Riley is one such author and poet. He was born in October in 1849. Perfect! An October snailmail theme. Have you ever felt an affinity with people who share your birth month? As a labor and delivery nurse I especially enjoy working on my birthday. I love to meet all the new people with whom I have a special birthday connection! 🥳 I have a penpal who has an October birthday. I decided to tell her about her birthday buddy, James Whitcomb Riley. He is probably most known for his poems, “The Raggedy Man” and “Little Orphant Annie.” He was inspired by people and dialects from his own childhood and young adult life. 

One Riley poem in particular reminds me of October, “When the Frost is on the Punkin.”

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock,

And you hear the kyouck and gobble of the struttin’ turkey-cock,

And the clackin’ of the guineys, and the cluckin’ of the hens,

And the rooster’s hallylooyer as he tiptoes on the fence;

O, it’s then’s the times a feller is a-feelin’ at his best,

With the risin’ sun to greet him from a night of peaceful rest,

As he leaves the house, bareheaded, and goes out to feed the stock,

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock.

They’s something kindo’ harty-like about the atmusfere

When the heat of summer’s over and the coolin’ fall is here—

Of course we miss the flowers, and the blossums on the trees,

And the mumble of the hummin’-birds and buzzin’ of the bees;

But the air’s so appetizin’; and the landscape through the haze

Of a crisp and sunny morning of the airly autumn days

Is a pictur’ that no painter has the colorin’ to mock—

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock.

The husky, rusty russel of the tossels of the corn,

And the raspin’ of the tangled leaves, as golden as the morn;

The stubble in the furries—kindo’ lonesome-like, but still

A-preachin’ sermuns to us of the barns they growed to fill;

The strawstack in the medder, and the reaper in the shed;

The hosses in theyr stalls below—the clover over-head!—

O, it sets my hart a-clickin’ like the tickin’ of a clock,

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock!

Then your apples all is gethered, and the ones a feller keeps

Is poured around the celler-floor in red and yeller heaps;

And your cider-makin’ ’s over, and your wimmern-folks is through

With their mince and apple-butter, and theyr souse and saussage, too! ...

I don’t know how to tell it—but ef sich a thing could be

As the Angels wantin’ boardin’, and they’d call around on me—

I’d want to ’commodate ’em—all the whole-indurin’ flock—

When the frost is on the punkin and the fodder’s in the shock!

Ahhh…fall. Thank you, James Whitcomb Riley. 

Share something you love with someone you love in a letter. 

XOXO,

Mrs. Murphy