BS: Long gone stationery supplies

Subject: RE: BS: Long gone stationery supplies
From: leeneia
Date: 21 Nov 18 - 10:51 AM

About long-gone stationery: Years ago I owned sealing wax and a seal. It had a rose on it. I don't know where they went;I don't have them any more. But they were fun to play with while they lasted.

Remember how people sometimes put their return address on the back of the envelope? Word from the post office is not to do that anymore, because if the envelope goes into the scanner upside-down, the system will take the return address for the recipient's address and shoot your letter right back to you.

Subject: RE: BS: Long gone stationery supplies
From: Mr Red
Date: 22 Nov 18 - 03:20 AM

Years ago I owned sealing wax and a seal.

Years ago I had a ring engraved with my own logo, a combination of intials. Used it a few times to seal registered parcels.

Subject: RE: BS: Long gone stationery supplies
From: Senoufou
Date: 22 Nov 18 - 04:12 AM

My grandfather wore a signet ring and my father inherited it. I think Prince Charles wears one. My father's wasn't very fancy, just his initials in a flowery style (they were fortunately the same as his dad's - 'ASR'). But they were worn quite a lot then.

Subject: RE: BS: Long gone stationery supplies
From: CupOfTea
Date: 22 Nov 18 - 10:15 AM

I grew up infatuated with all the stationery and office supplies. The family business was office machinery, and with all adults in my home working, I spent vacations hanging out there. It was bliss for art and creative efforts. Paper construction with odd bits trimmed off the huge paper cutter, watercolor pencils for drawing. Large pieces of brown wrapping paper off the roll & objects created out of the brown paper tape that came out of the hand cranked dispenser with a bottle of water to wet the glue. Plastic lettering templates that required a technical pen. Rubber stamps made to order. Sheets of carbon paper, in typewriters or transferring designs on craft projects. Typing Paper in colors!

Fluid duplicators were the main part of the business, and the smell, and chilly feel of freshly printed sheets lasted well into the Xerox copy years for me. Red and green were added to the common purple for us.

Burroughs was the local stationery supply store, a favourite place. Paints and brushes, fountain pens and ink. Pads of watercolor paper, blank books, folders, page dividers, hole reinforcers, hole punches, staplers, markers, erasers for pencil and chalkboards (still have a slate board in use in my kitchen) When Burroughs was gone, art supply stores took the place of much of it. Still have drawing templates (circle, square, oval, hearts, alphabets) French curve sets, see-through rulers in 1/16 inch grids, Exact-o knives and replacement blades. Rub-on lettering in interesting fonts (still have vinyl glue on letters on my bowed psaltery marking the notes) used for making fancy flyers and spiffy presentations.

The smell of paper and ink, paint, boxes of new crayons, all ambrosia to me; a big part of the charm of these repositories of supplies was the POSSIBILITY of wonderful things coming out of their use. Still feel that way.

Joanne in Cleveland

Subject: RE: BS: Long gone stationery supplies
From: Jack Campin
Date: 22 Nov 18 - 11:14 AM

Remember how people sometimes put their return address on the back of the envelope? Word from the post office is not to do that anymore, because if the envelope goes into the scanner upside-down, the system will take the return address for the recipient's address and shoot your letter right back to you.

The scanner can't make that mistake if you do what I do - my return address is written in cursive script fitted into a single diagonal line corner to corner across the back. Only a human has a prayer of interpreting that.

Subject: RE: BS: Long gone stationery supplies
From: BobL
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 02:51 AM

If you print your return address, either directly onto the envelope or via sticky labels, you can avoid the problem by using any suitably outlandish font. Such as Sans Forgetica. Sorry, I drift.

Subject: RE: BS: Long gone stationery supplies
From: Mr Red
Date: 23 Nov 18 - 03:44 AM

Sans Forgetica?

A curious juxtaposition of meanings. Sans is without - in this case serifs. But Sans Forgetica - no forgetting - sounds like the opposite of the purpose proposed above. And being designed as an aide memoire - it looks less like the one for the job to me, but what do I know.

call me a philistine but I am determined not to remember it!