Envelopeless Letters

[J. John Harvey]

Flexible seals...

 

http://jherbin.com/sealing_waxes.shtml

 

Scroll down to the "supple wax" section...

 

I've never used it but it seems a good concept.

Edited March 6, 2006 by J. John Harvey

[M4R1N4]

Well, the envelopeless letter arrived - THANKS GARY!

 

That was the good news. The bad news is it obviously went through a postal sorter machine and the seal didn't fare too well. The center of the seal (the impression) was unrecognizable as a significant portion had broken off. In addition, the seal had sustained some other damage with the right portion of the seal being sheared/abraided/rubbed off.

 

Looks like seals are best on the letter inside an envelope. Other ideas???

Crazy! The one Gary sent to me arrived completely intact. In fact, the seal worked so well that I had to tear the letter a little bit just to get it opened! The seal on mine must have missed the stamper thing...

[Titivillus]

Flexible seals...

 

http://jherbin.com/sealing_waxes.shtml

 

Scroll down to the "supple wax" section...

 

I've never used it but it seems a good concept.

It's a good concept but the feeling of the flexible seal leaves me cold. A real seal has a gloss about it that I haven't seen on the flexies. It's just a blob of colored hot glue to me.

 

Kurt H

[southpaw]

On the flexible wax, I agree with Kurt. Something just doesn't seem right.

 

Here's a pic of the seal - didn't have time to shoot one until now. I refolded the letter as I had already opened it. The section missing from the outter ring in the lower left-hand corner was originally there. The rest of the damage was done en route.

[bunny]

I recently received a enveletter, just thought that term up, but it's an evelope letter and also have had the Creative Correspondence book which has directions for a folded evelope letter. It's mentioned in one of the previous posts. But thought I'd post this link for different types. I've not tried any of them but they look look they'd be fun to do.

 

http://www.ghh.com/elf/elf.html

 

Hope it'll be useful to someone,

 

a.k.a.

Becky

[JHeels]

I feel like square (an other non-traditionally shaped) envelopes or enveletters require additional postage because the post office machinery won't take them and they have to be hand filed. Is that right, or off the mark? If correct, does anyone know what the proper postage is?

[JohnS-MI]

I feel like square (an other non-traditionally shaped) envelopes or enveletters require additional postage because the post office machinery won't take them and they have to be hand filed. Is that right, or off the mark? If correct, does anyone know what the proper postage is?

 

The USPS term is "nonmachinable surcharge." It is currently $0.17 extra on a letter under one ounce ($0.42). As postal rates are about to change, you may want to check whether it also changes. Any of several factor can make it nonmachinable, but "too square" is one of them. Length/width muct lie between 1.3 and 2.5.

[Paddler]

Go to letterfu.com and download the PDF files for folding templates there. You print the template on one side of the paper and write on the other side. Then you fold along the faintly printed lines and your letter is in its own envelope. The folding pattern is cleverly contrived so the postage stamp holds the letter closed. Another plus: the folded letter is the right size and aspect ratio to need regular postage; machine sorting works with it so the post office doesn't charge extra.

 

Paddler

 

[linuxchiq]

Flexible seals...

 

http://jherbin.com/sealing_waxes.shtml

 

Scroll down to the "supple wax" section...

 

I've never used it but it seems a good concept.

It's a good concept but the feeling of the flexible seal leaves me cold. A real seal has a gloss about it that I haven't seen on the flexies. It's just a blob of colored hot glue to me.

 

Kurt H

 

 

The J Herbin supple sealing wax is not hot glue, it's wax (though the hot glue type is also available from their site).

 

I have used the supple wax and found it quite nice, though the letter I applied it to arrived sans seal: it was completely absent. I had mailed the letter from the next town over, as a test, so it didn't have far to go.

 

Whether this was due to the machinery breaking it to smithereens, or a person coveting the Egyptian scarab impression is a mystery. ^_^

 

 

[Peregrin]

Those envelopes are great!

[JHeels]

I feel like square (an other non-traditionally shaped) envelopes or enveletters require additional postage because the post office machinery won't take them and they have to be hand filed. Is that right, or off the mark? If correct, does anyone know what the proper postage is?

 

The USPS term is "nonmachinable surcharge." It is currently $0.17 extra on a letter under one ounce ($0.42). As postal rates are about to change, you may want to check whether it also changes. Any of several factor can make it nonmachinable, but "too square" is one of them. Length/width muct lie between 1.3 and 2.5.

 

 

Thanks for the tip. I just went onto the USPS website, and they quoted me 62 cents for a 1 ounce square envelope.

[Chris Chalmers]

I've saved the Chinese way of folding - and have a letter written - with a flexible wax seal - to go in the post tomorrow!

Thanks for a great discussion!

[RustyHB]

I have bought wax in Colonial Williamsburg. It is red and hard and glossy. It traveled on Christmas cards all the way to Germany. Must have been pure luck.

[Gcouch]

Nice! I want to get into wax seals at some point, but I'm stuck with envelops for now.

[mm1624124]

Thanks for refreshing this topic! Great timing since I've been browsing for envelope templates and folding patterns for envelopeless letters for the past few weeks. I'm thinking of writing letters (rather than keeping a journal) to our grandchildren--for them to open up later in life (as they so choose).

[wrath186]

I would like to see some of the envelopless folding options. Looks kind of neat.

[jbb]

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5041/5335790359_88ed4fa87e_o.jpg

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5164/5336301448_b9fc335cc0_o.jpg

[AfterMyNap]

I have bought wax in Colonial Williamsburg. It is red and hard and glossy. It traveled on Christmas cards all the way to Germany. Must have been pure luck.

 

Same here, Rusty, I learned a lot about these techniques there. Before envelopes, the intact wax seal was considered authentication of the sender's identity and proof of privacy to the recipient. The seal was created with a signet ring bearing the sender's personal monogram, office, or coat of arms and was always unique to the wearer.

 

The seal was of a much more rigid and dense wax that was snapped in two, hence, "breaking the seal", in order to open the correspondence without tearing it. In those colonial days, paper was of course, hand made and treated as rather valuable. Because of this, correspondence had no standard size, nor a customary fold, as the writer would tear off only the necessary amount of paper for each note. The main objective was to create a fold that left only two "open" opposing sides to be affixed by the seal.

 

To my eyes, the flat little disk of goo resulting from the flexible versions is not at all the way a wax seal ought to appear and I avoid those impostors like the plague!

 

When I began using these wax seals in the 1970s *gulp*, even then I quickly learned to simply add an external modern envelope for the actual USPS activity. The results are varied but the bulk of them have made it safely under standard delivery, and those that broke were in few enough pieces to reassemble it for a closer look (unless my friends are just lying to humor me...). This also neatly accommodates the modern information and postal requirements. It further gives me an excuse to use my embossers for the return address and an adhesive foil seal.

 

To avoid potential water damage, a fellow FPNer recommended a most classic prevention— just rub a thin film over the dry ink with the side of a white candle or plain bar of paraffin.

Edited August 29, 2012 by AfterMyNap

[AfterMyNap]

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5041/5335790359_88ed4fa87e_o.jpg

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5164/5336301448_b9fc335cc0_o.jpg

 

Lovely!

[fiberdrunk]

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5041/5335790359_88ed4fa87e_o.jpg

 

http://farm6.staticflickr.com/5164/5336301448_b9fc335cc0_o.jpg

 

 

So lovely!