Have typewriter. Will travel.
This should be Claire’s motto. This fascinating gal (hope you don’t mind me calling you ‘gal’ Claire) that I recently met on my travels is the brains behind a very cool, organic project in Banff, Alberta,Canada. Welcome to the Banff Snail Mail Society!
Clickety-clack-ding-zippppppp
You may remember in a recent post I mentioned Claire and her merry band of letter writers. Most of the typewriters they type on belong to Claire. She has been known to lug them about town to various spots, ready and waiting for folks to put them to use. Having found a more permanent home at Gingko and Ink Atelier this group meets most Thursdays in the paper store.
Old is new
There is a bit of revival of sorts for all things vintage these days and typewriters are right up there at the top of the list. Claire is such a devotee that she often travels with a typewriter. And if she doesn’t leave with one, she almost always returns home with one that she has purchased on her travels. Over time she has become quite adapt at refurbishing and fixing the older models, but her favorite is this purple and orange beauty. Mine too.
Community
I just love that there is such a thing as Snail Mail Society. Does my heart good. They seem to be cropping up everywhere. For those of you closer to Vancouver you may want to stop in at The Regional Assembly of Text (a store I am dying to visit) where they host a letter writing club that meets monthly.
Do you participate in such a group? Please let me know if you are aware of other groups that conspire together to write a few letters.
It always thrills me to find other kindred spirits who are evangelists for the art of personal note writing, whether it’s with a typewriter or by hand. I’ll definitely be looking up the groups you mention so we can all encourage each other. The theme of my own life (and blog) is the power of connection, and to me, note and letter writing are among the most powerful connection tools at our disposal.
Hello there Elizabeth, you are quite right about the power of connection and how letter writing facilitates this at a very intimate level. I need to get an old clunky typewriter for my office! So appreciate your comments here on the blog. Thank you.
I think this is really cool! I will admit I rarely write letters anymore but it’s always so nice to get a handwritten note in the mail. I usually write a letter once a year to my husband’s aunt because I know how much she loves getting them. I should write more.
Hi Michelle, I should write more too. I would love to have an old typewriter to bang out the letters on as well. Thanks for stopping in.