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I currently use 52gsm white TR paper. For me it is too thin and flimsy.... and shows through more than i would prefer. I love Clairefontaine Triomphe paper but it is too heavy for multi-page international letters. So what's in between? I prefer white that's able to show sheen and shading. Blank, dot grid or lined works. I look forward to your suggestions. PS... I am in the USA so stuff I can get here, please..

If I recieve foreign mail should I microwave it to disinfect? Alternatively I could put it in a sealed poly bag for a fortnight?

I've just become a member of The Letter Writers Alliance, thought it would be great to be part of this since I did allot of greeting cards and I like to write, specially with my fountain pens. Any of you part of this alliance? If so, what is your experience?

Due to senior "forgetfulness", memory issues, I was thinking of making copies of letters before I send them out (snail mail correspondence) so that I remember what I've written, and help me write more thoughtfully. How many of you make copies of written letters to keep track of what was sent? Or do you just, "remember". Do you have a system for snail mail writing? Thanks everyone for your help.

Bonjour - Barb Marshall of WriteWhileUCan posted that September 1 is World Letter Writing Day. The founder would like to receive letters from different countries. http://www.ritewhileucan.com/september-1st-world-letter-writing-day/ Merci, et bon journée!

Hello all, I often print postage labels for small packages from the US Postal Service website and as I was perusing the area where you can purchase stamps, I came upon this very nice-looking souvenir sheet called "Classics Forever". It's a sheet of six stamps commemorating US postage and "in appreciation of stamp collectors and philatelists everywhere". They feature Washington, Franklin and Lincoln in various styles as based on postage from the mid-19th century. They are very handsome stamps. The mediocre cellphone pics just don't do them justice. What really strikes me is that they are printed with the intaglio method as with the originals (and as with paper currency). It's a method not often used with your regular run-of-the-press stamps: a metal plate is engraved with an image. It is inked up and then wiped clean. This leaves ink only inside the grooves of the line. Paper is then pressed hard against the plate and the ink from the grooves is transferred to it. The method produces a fine line and a slightly textured surface as with freshly printed money. The overall effect is elegant. Artistic. They make your letters look particularly classy and old-timey. (Especially when used on C6 envelopes like those made by Clairefontaine.) You can just about see the raised surfaces on the stamps as the light reflects off of it in the following detail. Interestingly, in the last picture, you can see further evidence of the intaglio method as one peels off the stamps to see the underlying backing. It seems that the whole sheet - stamps, backing and all - were printed in this manner as reflected light reveals the embossed effect. Despite their premium look and feel, and worthiness of discerning collectors (IMHO), these six stamps are priced at the going rate (US$ 0.49 each as I write this). They are "forever" stamps and can be used as 1st-class postage despite any future fluctuations in rates. One does have to order it from the website and pay for delivery, however. It doesn't seem to be available at Post Offices, very unfortunately. Was this topic the first ever stamp review on the FPN? Regards, Rich I have no affiliation with the USPS. I have purchased these stamps as would have anyone else. (In fact, I bought two sheets: one to use and one to just keep wrapped up and perhaps frame one day!) Neither was I compensated in any way.

I have to confess I got bogged down in the collected letters of both John Steinbeck and Jane Austen, and so decided that maybe reading other people's letters was not for me. I tried it again with the letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, but again gave up after a while. Then, in 2015, two books got me into reading other people's mail: The first os Letters of Note, compiled by Shaun Usher. It is an eclectic collection, and it frequently contains reproductions of the actual letters. Most of the letters are very interesting, many beautiful, but my absolute favourite is a standard form letter from a Bureau of Etiquette in China, AD 856. "I was ready to sink into the earth with shame." Indeed. Wonderfull stuff. The second one is Simon Garfield's To the Letter, an ode to (or obituary for) the letter, which covers the history of the letter from ancient Greece to now, the history of the postal system, various famous letter writers, and some letters from Chris Barker and Bessie Moore, who wrote to each other while he was stationed in North Africa during WWII, fell in love, carried on their romance by mail, and finally got married. (Garfield has since edited a collection of their letters, My Dear Bessie.) I heartily recommend both books, and I plan to give collected letters another go. Maybe Kurt Vonnegut or Mark Twain will be the thing. We'll see. Whose letters do you read?

In case you are itching to write some letters, but aren't sure what to write, you could volunteer for this project. I'm not affiliated with this art project, but I do plan to volunteer for it. Basically, for one week you volunteer to write other people's letters and mail them. For more details, check out the project's website at http://snailmailmyemail.org

Continuing on a theme of letter writing to some extent.... It wasn't all that long ago in the USA that interstate long-distance calling was a battleground for companies, "local long distance" phone charges were real (and really expensive), and that letter writing was more common well before then. Yesterday I did something that I realized I haven't done in a long time: I wrote a handwritten letter to respond to a handwritten letter. I commented on this to a few people and I've had some good conversation around it and the nostalgia of writing letters. Yet I digress. We have the FPN Post Office, and there's a similar and very long thread on another forum site that is just fascinating to read. Even though a lot of is mundane - "I sent X letters out and Y came in" - I put together that there are some writers out that that can crank out the volume. There's also InCoWriMo, which challenges people to hand-write and post (or deliver) one item for each day of February (more or less). So I ask FPN today: How many handwritten items do you put in the mail on an average week? For sake of simplicity, let's define it as letters and postcards; no greeting cars, bill payments or strictly packages. If you sent something along with the letter as part of a package (example: you sent a pen along with a letter in a box), count that as a letter. If you don't want to comment, feel free to respond to the poll anyway. I think I have all of the bases covered, but if not I'll see if a mod can adjust it. (editing: struck cards (like greeting cards) from the list to be consistent with the FPN post office).

Hi fellow FPNers, Here's the thing. I have a few penpals around the world, including some of the lovely guys and gals on here. However, in the last few months I have received 3 letters from people who are not members here, and who are not connected to me in any other obvious way. So three overseas letters arrive: from Russia, Malaysia and Brazil. One from a girl and the other two from guys. A couple of concerns come to mind. I don't know who these people are, and I don't know how exactly they got my name and address. Also, there is the perceived danger of scams in unsolicited mail, particularly (and sterotypically perhaps) assocaited with Russia. One of the guys seemed like a fairly typical penpalling type. With the other guy I sensed a seeking for some kind of venture partner. Could be just my suspicion meter running the red zone. And the Russian one had quite a lot of personal information (about them) they I wouldn't have thought was a good idea to put into an introductory letter. I could write back, I guess, but I wanted to ask as I am sure there are many here who have experienced this and have advice to render. So what would you do? And what do you think I should do?

Hi all - I searched but I can't find an answer to this question. I sent some pens to the FPH and they have had them a week now (after a somewhat fraught situation with the misdirected package) but I haven't heard anything by phone or email about a repair estimate. The website says that they would send a "written" estimate...should I be looking for it in the snail mail? Should I call them? I know they are great but they can be grouchy on the phone...

For those who like to write to people, I just thought I'd draw attention to the recently-announced price increases from the Royal Mail. The link here will direct you to the new list and the increases come into effect on 31/03/14 - the end of this month. It's a real blow for a lot of people who will find the extra charges possibly prohibitive. Before anyone comments that the cost of a stamp is minuscule compared to the price of some of our pens - let me remind you: pen costs are something that we have control over because either we buy them or we don't. OUR decision. The Royal Mail increases are out of our control. Also; this increase will of course, effect the shipping charges too. I am not happy.