Europa 2008 - "Letter Writing"

Every year the European Nations issue a Commemorative stamp with a common theme and this year it's “Letter Writing”.

I wish I had pen pals when I was young to swap stamps with. I’ve heard that there are some people who save all the letters they’ve ever been sent. I realize now that what was “ON” the envelope is more valuable than what was “IN” the envelope. All those rare, cancelled, old stamps! Then again, I probably wouldn’t have thought to keep them anyway. We’ve replaced letter writing with e-mail now. How boring and nothing to save of any value either. We’re just clogging the airwaves with all this stuff when we could be supporting the Post Office and creating jobs. Just how important are these messages we e-mail around the world in merely a few seconds? No more greeting cards or post cards but much less paper waste. It seems we’ve become quite good at recycling our paper products but there is no demand for all this recycled fiber and it sits in warehouses for years on end. I guess the idea is NOT to throw these things out but to keep them as memorabilia instead.

So, now I’ve started to collect some “Letter Writing” stamps but I’m finding it difficult because the websites have language barriers and it’s all Greek to me. It’ll take awhile and I’m sure I won’t find them all just as I haven’t been able to find all the 2007 Scout stamps either.

As far as taking letters go, Secretaries with their shorthand and touch typing skills are almost obsolete. We don't learn to touch type anymore, we keyboard, and shorthand ... ... what's shorthand?

Remember those chain letters that were popular once? I’ve been thinking of starting a few to stimulate the economy.

I hated chain letters too once but we do everything online now eg., banking, e-cards, ordering online for everything. If we all make an effort to put something in the mail and keep it going (a positive chain letter is a great idea) our Post Offices will be overwhelmed and will have to do some hiring. I need a job so I hope they do lots of hiring! I also collect stamps and right now I have too many so this will serve a double purpose. I have some nice post cards that are bound to be collectible memoribilia one day and it seems to me that those Greeting Cards have come down in price.

Let’s see … … I'll start with friends first. Would you like one? Here's one more catch ... ... you have to keep all the chain letters, cards, etc., you receive (in a shoe box is a good idea) so there’s no waste (garbage) and it will be a time capsule. USE NICE STAMPS. There's bound to be a domino effect from all of this.