Snail Mail: Letter Writing Makes a Nostalgic Comeback

If your mailbox is like mine, threats of more post office closings and service cutbacks shouldn't come as a surprise. No one sends snail mail any more. Writing letters (as well as sending greeting cards and postcards) is slowly becoming extinct — replaced by the ease and immediacy of electronic forms of communication, such as email, texting, and IM-ing.

On a typical day, my mail delivery usually consists of a few bills, a bank statement, perhaps a magazine, and some catalogs (usually from Pottery Barn or Horchow). But cursive handwriting, too, is becoming an archaic skill that many students will not necessarily learn in school as long as they can keyboard. Only my junk mail or too frequent requests for political contributions come hand-addressed, a ploy to trick the romantic souls among us into opening them.

But everything old is new again so Ivan Cash, a young avant-garde artist-designer from San Francisco, began Snail Mail My Email in mid-July, a one-month interactive art project calling attention to the special magic letter writing holds for both the sender and recipient.

"Snail mail fascinates me," Cash told the Wall Street Journal when asked why he took on this massive project. "There's something warm and fuzzy about coming home and checking the mail and getting a letter from a friend. It's such an intimate form of communication, especially in today's world," he said.

In brief, he's offered to transcribe people's letters (up to a maximum of 100 words, one letter per person) from email to paper, and mail each one in a stamped envelope to its intended recipient's street address — all at no cost. To get the job accomplished, he's recruited an international crew of 134 volunteer scribes and is soliciting donations on PayPal through his website. To give the letter a personal feel, senders can request the addition of a whimsical doodle, petal flower, spray of perfume, lipstick kiss, or suggest a creative graphic of their own.

Cash estimates that 90 percent of the requests have been for love letters but you can write to anyone you choose. It's not too late to get in on the fun and participate if you email the project at SnailMailMyEmail@gmail.com before August 15, 2011. This might be a great conversation starter to resurrect an old friendship.

To see some of the wonderful letters that have been composed, each a piece of art in its own right, check out the project's slide show on Flickr.