Day 55: The Dead Pen Pal Box Part One

As I mentioned before, I have been going through cards and letters. If you have ever written to me, I probably still have the evidence. When I was 8 years old my best school friend Liz moved to Alabama and gave me this stationery set with embossed gold birds on it, so that I could write to her. But then she never wrote to me, and I did not have her address! But I used the paper to write to other friends who had moved away and anyone I met at motels and campgrounds on family road trips.

Then I found lists of pen pals in a crafts magazine and Archie comic books, and my name and address was printed in each as well. I received a couple of hundred responses from the comic book printing; no, I did not write to them all, but I started a pen pal matching service.

I very rarely stopped writing to anyone; it was usually the other way around. Once I did not hear from someone for a year or two, I would put their letters into a big box on my closet shelf. When I was a little older I christened it the Dead Pen Pal Box. I mean, if I had died as a kid, would my parents have written and informed all my pen pals?

Yeah, that is meant to be a hand holding a pen and an envelope...

I had one pen pal turned real life friend who loved the idea of the Dead Pen Pal Box, and joked that he hoped his letters would never end up in there. Well, when I was visiting (from England) in 1989, I had not heard from this guy for a couple of years so in his letters went. He had owed me a substantial amount of money, from when he stayed at my house in Leeds in the mid 80s and had run up an unbelievably large phone bill, and before that I had lent him some francs in Paris. He paid me a little bit and kept giving me excuses and finally I gave up. Still I was saddened to learn a few years ago that he actually did pass away.

Sometimes I have resurrected people from the DPPB; I have been going through it in the past week and have found bundles from people I have found or who have found me on Facebook. I have not had time to look at many of the letters, but I am currently enjoying flipping through the early 70s section. There is an abundance of hot pink, bright orange and lime green, Flower Power, Peanuts stickers and stationery and of course, happy faces.

 Here we have not only an oversized orange flower power envelope, but a peace sign on a psychedelic background to write on. VERY groovy!!!

Giant flower power writing petals!

I had a set of these stickers too!

And I had this stationery in hot pink. It was my favorite...

Nothing says the 1970s quite like writing on a pair of denim hot pants...

I have noticed that a great number of the pen pals who stopped writing did so after three letters. At first I was only opening letters that looked as if they would contain snazzy stationery, but then I started glancing at the third letters of the three-letter sets. I have found no clues; in fact it is in the third letter that most of the pen pals tell me how much they like me and love receiving my letters and how they hope they can meet me one day. This one not only had groovy Flower Power long stationery...

"Here is a smile from me because I'm happy I have a wonderful and terrific pen pal like you." Yep, it's a third and final letter.

More to follow!