Hand calligraphy & post office don't mix?

I'm abit bummed out...I am certain the post office must have different technology or a different sorting process now for letter mail where the envelope address is done in hand (Western) calligraphy.

I've done handful of snail mail Christmas cards..in my own hand calligraphy. And have done it for past 15 Christmases. Sorry, email doesn't work as much in our family because not everyone in family has a computer and now, living thousands of kms. away, actually family members appreciate a real card vs. something they can delete from the computer (or yet waste more ink printing it off. Who would?)

After mailing out 2-3 wks. in advance, still some (or all) of these cards have not yet been received. :mad: In past years, people have received their cards within 7 days.

Sorry, I handwrite in large nearly 3/4" high letters with rounded script, no curlicues. No, difficult-to-read ye-olde-English Gothic script. I made sure the postal code was a simple, straightforward style.

Have to say that in the push for technological efficiency, that sometimes art/hand-done falls down and gets pushed aside. :(

And please do not tell me that there are computer fonts that mimic calligraphy. I actually never use them for any electronic signature...if I use calligraphic signature, I hand-write mine in calligraphy for real. :) I took several hand calligraphy courses. Some of that knowledge is transferrable for how to select font styles for legibility, compatability for 2 related font styles and simple graphics layout.

When in the past I have given gifts of hand-done steel nib inked calligraphic cards and posters.

So am not sure if people will get those cards.

Shootingstar - That's terrible that your cards seem to be lost in the mail. I think most mail is now sorted by optical scanners, and not by people, so plain and simple, especially during high volumne times of the year is probably the best. On the other hand, they could just be stuck in a slow boat, or on a slow plane.

A few years ago, I had some postcard style Christmas cards printed, and and hand wrote the addresses on the cards.. and the PO machinery sorted every dang one of them back to my "from" address since it was more easily read by the machines, despite the fact that it was tiny and the hand-written "TO" addresses were large and very legible, and very obvious to any human.

I was ticked... because I had sent out nearly 100 cards that year. I had no luck even getting the PO to refund my postage.. ultimately I put every card in an envelope and paid more to send them. I was not a happy postal customer.

What's even stupider is that not all of them came back right away - they seemed to come back in batches over about a week, starting the day after they were originally mailed.

I was going to say... what do you expect, I think the USPS is one of the most inefficient services out there... but then I saw you were in Canada....Sorry to hear that your stuff didn't get through, seems very strange...

Maybe you hit a bad mailbox?

As far as we know, pretty much everything we sent this year has made it. I was not particularly careful in addressing them either.

However post mail was very slow. I had a package that should have been in by December 15th that arrived on the 23rd. (At least it was in for Christmas!) The Holidays are a terribly busy season, and packages are a priority compared to letter mail I think...

I hope all of your wishes make it before the New Year.

:( Don't know. And some of the addressed snail mail, were actually small gift packages....substantively more costly to mail.

Sarah--I didn't put a return address. I'm disgusted by what the P.O. did for your situation. Just stupid especially when you gave the return address.

Yes, illegibility now= hand crafted calligraphy that can be clear, BIG (if chosen style is good) and takes 3x times more effort.

It is the equivalent of saying sewn garment is always worse than mass manufactured garment. Poppycock.

In case, people don't really understand calligraphy and calligraphic art:
http://www.omniglot.com/gallery/call...ex.php?start=1

http://www.omniglot.com/gallery/index.htm

http://calligraphersguild.org/julian.html

I work in a print shop. Every year we get more and more postal regs for envelopes/postcards/packages. We've even taken to sending a PDF of the mailing side of a piece to the local postal resource person for pre-approval before we print, so our customers don't run into trouble with large mailings. It has gotten really ridiculous. I do calligraphy as well. I finally knuckled under and address the outside in block print in black Sharpie. Sigh.

Deb

Hand calligraphy is a wonderful art if you can do it (or know someone who can). So's typography, using and choosing the perfect font. ;) :D

If I was mailing something using calligraphy I'd find a type-face that compliments it and use that on the to/from address.

I would never leave off a return address at least knowingly. I'm sure I've forgotten sometimes.

Sadly at this time lots of places will not take a letter/package with no return address.

Leave your craft for the inside, perhaps a hint such as a word or decorative flourish on the outside or the back. Better to do that then risk your card, wedding invite, toddler's birthday party invite ..... get lost in the mail.

No design is amazing if it does not work; the advert with a wrong number, the colors chosen that conflict horridly, the poster specs delivered to the printer the night of the deadline and their building burns down (been there, done it all, especially the printer building that burned down).

Sorry about all the hard work you did and it did not go through the mail or not delivered yet. I'm sure that's discouraging. :( It may turn up yet and I'm sure the recipients will be pleased.

Trek ~ CCA Graphic Design major ~ 420

I'm sorry your letters/cards/packages have not been delivered yet.

I had a friend who worked for the Post Office a couple years ago, and I was told by her, that the mail first goes thru machines that read the addresses optically. The system looks for very simple easy to read lettering. (It really prefers simple font machine printed addresses and it prefers the address in a certain position on the envelope. If the return address is lower on the envelope than it should be, the scanner thinks thats the mail-to address) It pushes thru what it recognizes and spits the others out for hand-sorting. During the holidays, when mail volume is higher, and during this economy of using fewer and fewer manual hands to do the work, the hand-sorting sometimes got backed up at least 2-3 weeks behind.

So for the past couple years, I hand write notes inside my cards, letters, even bill payments, but use computer created printed labels for the outside. And the preprinted return address labels. I've had much less mail delivered late. Some still is, but much less.

I'm sorry to hear about your lost hard work. Hopefully it will turn up.

Do you have any sort of confirmation that it was because of the calligraphy? As someone else mentioned, maybe there was a problem at the place where you posted them. Or an honest mistake of insufficient postage, if you mailed them yourself with stamps rather than taking to a post office? I'm not sure how the Canadian post works, if they would return to sender in that case or forward it on anyway with a envelope request to make up the postage (this has happened with a package from my boyfriend's mom that she accidentally shorted by $0.50).

I'm genuinely curious why you chose not to include a return address. That's something that was beaten into my head by my mom, so I can't imagine ever not including it. :o

Of course, the postal service is not perfect, but I'm still amazed that I can send a letter across the country in a few days for less than half a dollar. Also, my uncle is a long-time USPS letter carrier, and seeing how hard he works I've found that I tend to have a little more sympathy for the postal service than many others do.

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Originally Posted by badgercat

I'm genuinely curious why you chose not to include a return address. That's something that was beaten into my head by my mom, so I can't imagine ever not including it. :o

Of course, the postal service is not perfect, but I'm still amazed that I can send a letter across the country in a few days for less than half a dollar. Also, my uncle is a long-time USPS letter carrier, and seeing how hard he works I've found that I tend to have a little more sympathy for the postal service than many others do.

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Just lazy, I normally do write the return address. That still is not an excuse to hand sort the mail with large, clearly written addressed envelope/pkg. front.

As for the letter carriers that deliver from door to door, I'm sure most work hard. Those sacks are heavy and am glad there are more ergonomic packs with padded straps for them to carry the letters. And still dealing with dogs, unshovelled walks, etc. These workers are further removed from the operations of inside workers at post office. (Evenlyn, this is just an observation. Wonder what the policies are for handsorting, if any.)

My prediction within next 25 yrs., hand calligraphy & calligraphic arts will reappear in greater vengeance but maybe in a nouveau art or media form..since handwritten stuff as an art, is becoming increasingly lost to mass-produced computer fonts and children learn less and less on cursive writing or handwriting in general. As you can tell, I really appreciate viewing art gallery exhibits with this stuff. At the British Museum, in the manuscript rm., I was in heaven. WHen getting into the groove of doing calligraphy, it is abit like cycling...one falls into a trance. So much that have occasionally fallen in love with executing the letter shapes that I spelled the word wrong!

Ok, am sounding artsy. But that's what it is in the end-- an art :rolleyes: And why would I do it still for family, etc.? Am an artshead/art dabbler in the family, so it has meaning to them --back to the kid playing with paints, dreaming up poetry. THat's all.

Meanwhile Trek's idea is good one, suggest in calligraphic design on envelope, etc.. Meanwhile have to track this year's stuff for next few wks. :(

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Originally Posted by badgercat

Of course, the postal service is not perfect, but I'm still amazed that I can send a letter across the country in a few days for less than half a dollar.

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Actually, I think the USPS does an incredibly good, prompt, and reliable job for not a ton of money on our parts.

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Originally Posted by salsabike

Actually, I think the USPS does an incredibly good, prompt, and reliable job for not a ton of money on our parts.

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+1.

As for the letter carriers hard work vs those inside the sorting room; I'm just a tiny teeny cog in a big company but I volunteer on the safety committee in our building. A big surprise to me was finding out not only the huge number of on the job injuries but who gets them most. :o

My thought is that would be technicians, the folks climbing ladders and such. Nope. It's us office workers that get hurt the most particularly ergonomic issues especially repetitive stress. Carpal tunnel and repetitive stress are very painful and crippling. I'm sure some of those workers would rather face a dog than sort thousands of letters a day by hand.

I once had my day minder stolen out of a back pack slung casually on my chair in a coffee shop. The thief took the day minder which had a little cash stuck in a pocket, but also all of my id etc :eek: He must have grabbed the cash and tossed it into a nearby mailbox.

A few weeks later I got an envelope with the dayminder, they'd figured out who and where I was, got it all back but the $20.00.

well, I wish I could agree with the above, but I sure don't. We have two significant home businesses, and the amount of mis-delivered mail ( our incoming getting delivered elsewhere, and no we don't have a weird address) is disturbing. Especially when it's incoming payments. I will spare you my laundry list of complaints but I have real, consistent problems with USPS.

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Originally Posted by Irulan

well, I wish I could agree with the above, but I sure don't. I will spare you my laundry list of complaints but I have real, consistent problems with USPS.

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Me too.

I can report that they have paid insurance claims on stolen packages, but it's not fun to deal with.

I still think they do an amazing job for very little. Like the time I reused an envelope (tip, don't do that if it has one of those barcode things. Regardless of what you write it goes THERE. Duh :rolleyes: ;) Hey, I have an excuse; I was at the airport, had paid all my bills over the phone but needed to mail a check and had that one envelope).

They got it back to me with a lovely little personal note.

OTOH with all their losses to e-mail, autopayment, paying online, plus I think all of us are trying to reduce our carbon footprint, protect our privacy and get rid of junk mail ... so what does USPO do?

They try to compete with UPS, Fedex, DHL etc. :confused:

The one thing they have an exclusive on is letters. Nobody UPS's a holiday card that I know of. ;)

Imagine if they got into the business of "bringing back the letter" with shops right inside the post offices with cards, lovely stationary and invites, local post cards, chisel tip pens and calligraphy books, real address books as opposed to ones built into your phone, those little lap top writing desks ....

when they make me Postmaster General that's what I'll do. :rolleyes: ;)

Just like any business with a lot of branches, the service you get depends a lot on the quality of the management and personnel at the local level.

I had terrible service in Memphis, at my job. Rude employees, misdelivered mail, lost mail. Pretty good service at my home in the suburbs. In my current town of 20,000, our post office is most excellent. Friendly clerks and carriers, helpful when you need something, not so put out by the odd request. Your experience of it depends on how good the management is at the local PO.

My husband was involved in the installation of optical readers for the USPS in the 1990s. Yeah, they want and desire standardization of the typefaces used to address letters, but you would be really surprised at how good they are at deciphering handwriting. I don't see why something as uniform as calligraphy would be harder for the machines to read. They build that ability into the machines. I can imagine they're even more advanced now.

Karen

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Originally Posted by salsabike

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Originally Posted by badgercat

Of course, the postal service is not perfect, but I'm still amazed that I can send a letter across the country in a few days for less than half a dollar.

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Actually, I think the USPS does an incredibly good, prompt, and reliable job for not a ton of money on our parts.

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Your use of "actually" makes me think that you think that I was implying something to the contrary :o so I just wanted to make sure my previous comments were clear. I think using the USPS is a great value for the services provided.

[However, I concede that my experiences with them have been less extensive than others who have been weighing in on this thread (business owners, etc). I probably only mail a handful of packages a year, and a few dozen letters/cards/bills/etc, so I'm kind of a small fish in that pond.]

I'm so angry with USPS because they lost 2 packages I ordered, but the manager at the post office insisted that it was delivered. We were actually up when the mail was pushed through the door but no package, but the system shows they were delivered. Even the postman remembers that there was no package on one of the days.

I had some USPS packages delivered before the holiday season that were fine, and also packages last year ALL arrived promptly. they must have hired some extra shifty hands this year.

Unfortunately I had to return home and my BF is not in town to deal with it for now. I suspect someone in the back room scanned the packages as delivered, but kept it for himself or chucked it somewhere. Because of them I have some jerseys paid for but never received as well as shea butter. Total value, more than $100.

I know postal workers have a tough job, but there needs to be some accountability. I could not even call in to find out what had happened. they manager (first time i went in to the post office to check what happened) just shrugged and told me it was probably stolen off my front step. (never happened in the 24 yrs my bf lived at the same place. all the neighbours have packages out on the step all day. we've had all kinds of valuable stuff too.)

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Originally Posted by badgercat

Your use of "actually" makes me think that you think that I was implying something to the contrary :o so I just wanted to make sure my previous comments were clear. I think using the USPS is a great value for the services provided.

[However, I concede that my experiences with them have been less extensive than others who have been weighing in on this thread (business owners, etc). I probably only mail a handful of packages a year, and a few dozen letters/cards/bills/etc, so I'm kind of a small fish in that pond.]

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No, Badgercat---I did think you were saying something positive, and I was seconding it. I didn't think you were implying anything to the contrary. :)

the SPCA always sends me lovely return address stickers every year, so I always put a little bit of cuteness on my cards.

I've so far *touch wood* not had anything get lost in the mail, though I have had FedEx outright steal one of my packages (expensive ski goggles). It was so brazen, considering it had a tracking number, they claim it got "lost". They must think I'm a moron if I'm to believe that.

They settled on insurance but only paid $100 CANADIAN when I paid $140US. Something to do with it being claimed in Canada. I was so mad.

I do have to give kudos to the post office for being able to decipher my chicken scratch. Sometimes I'm in awe of how horrible my handwriting is.

Deeiamond, are these packages you're receiving in Singapore or in the US? If it's Singapore, I'm not sure it's the USPS fault.

Shootingstar, If you want to continue using calligraphy, just mail your letters out earlier (like early november) so that they have time to be hand sorted. There are just way too many people in the US and or Canada all of whom are sending Christmas cards and packages at one time to expect the post office to have enough personnel to hand sort letters or packages that can't be scanned by a computer. I think your relatives are just tearing open the envelopes anyways, so whether or not the the address is written pretty is somewhat immaterial - but possibly your relatives are a lot more sentimental than I am. I keep envelopes if I need the return address, and since yours didn't have one, I'd've just tossed it after possibly admiring your calligraphy for a few seconds... However, as a compromise you could do calligraphy on an envelope and then put that envelope in another one that you address in block letters.

That being said, I have terrible handwriting and the USPS always manages to get my letters or bills where they need to go on time.

I use USPS when I sell on ebay, buy as well... So maybe 5-10 packages a month for a few years. I've only ever had 1 thing go astray. So they've almost always done a good job for me.


I rarely go to the local post office, because I can do most of it online and put in a request for the post man to it up. I do find a lot of employees in the post office cranky and have been yelled at by them a few times in the last couple of years... And they get really irked when you print out a shipping label and then a few days later drop it off at the post office. So I don't go :) I can't say that I've ever been yelled at by a UPS or a fedex employee, however.

What I do find annoying is the USPS refusal to track packages. Yes, they technically have it with express mail, and you can often get info off a priority mail label... But half the time I have ebay packages being mailed overseas with priority or express mail and all I can see on the tracking is... "shipping label created" and then about two weeks to a month later, I'll get feedback from the buyer saying they received it... I just cringe everytime that happens, because I know at some point some buyer is going to take advantage of the fact that I have absolutely no proof of delivery to file a claim against me on ebay. I do ocassionally have buyers emailing me saying "the tracking says nothing, did you actually send it??" and I will ask them to wait another week or two and tell me if it shows up. It has invariably shown up, but packages should not leave the country without being scanned in AT ALL. The last time, it took nearly 2 months for a pair of shoes to get delivered in Australia... and luckily the buyer was very patient with it... but I had no proof that I'd sent the package.

If I call and complain, USPS will say "we don't offer tracking on priority mail packages" Even if these ones have delivery confirmation. It can't be all that hard if it's already in place for express mail packages, and come on... fedex & ups manage.

Catriona, I've often thought the same thing as well with international shipping and "lack" of tracking. But as I was explained by the postal worker, once a package leaves the country, it's no longer in their hands. I guess every country has their own tracking system, and it's not standardised. It makes sense.

So, as far as Canada Post is concerned (and likely the same for USPS), the package was sent and that's about as much as you'll get.

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Originally Posted by badger

Catriona, I've often thought the same thing as well with international shipping and "lack" of tracking. But as I was explained by the postal worker, once a package leaves the country, it's no longer in their hands. I guess every country has their own tracking system, and it's not standardised. It makes sense.

So, as far as Canada Post is concerned (and likely the same for USPS), the package was sent and that's about as much as you'll get.

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Well, I'd like to know that the package has been picked up & left the country and they can do that, they just don't always. Most of the time I create a shipping label and the status never changes from the following, even with me requesting delivery conformation or signature confirmation. I know this package was delivered, but it never showed up on tracking info:

Label/Receipt Number: 9121 7850 9140 1244 7240 36
Class: Priority Mail®
Service(s): Signature Confirmation™
Status: Electronic Shipping Info Received

The U.S. Postal Service was electronically notified by the shipper on October 24, 2009 to expect your package for mailing. This does not indicate receipt by the USPS or the actual mailing date. Delivery status information will be provided if / when available. No further information is available for this item.





It's bunk that they can't do tracking out of the country. About 1/4th of the time I actually get tracking of a package, saying when it was picked up, when it left the country,entered foreign customs, etc. Here's a package that I sent to Canada with tracking:


Label/Receipt Number: CQ33 5695 108U S
Class: Priority Mail International Parcels
Service(s): International Parcels
Status: Delivered Abroad
Your item was delivered in CANADA at 11:43 AM on October 17, 2009.
Detailed Results:

* Delivered Abroad, October 17, 2009, 11:43 am, CANADA
* Attempted Delivery Abroad, October 14, 2009, 2:13 pm, CANADA
* Attempted Delivery Abroad, October 14, 2009, 11:59 am, CANADA
* At Foreign Delivery Unit, October 14, 2009, 8:13 am, CANADA
* Out of Foreign Customs, October 09, 2009, 4:03 pm, CANADA
* Into Foreign Customs, October 09, 2009, 11:41 am, CANADA
* Arrived Abroad, October 09, 2009, 11:41 am, CANADA
* International Dispatch, October 08, 2009, 7:03 am, FOREIGN CENTERJERSEY CITY NJ 099
* Arrival
* Electronic Shipping Info Received, October 06, 2009


Here's the tracking of a package I sent my cousin:
Detailed Results:

* Delivered Abroad, October 03, 2009, 11:55 am, GREAT BRITAIN
* At Foreign Delivery Unit, September 28, 2009, 6:38 am, GREAT BRITAIN
* Out of Foreign Customs, September 27, 2009, 4:52 pm, GREAT BRITAIN
* Arrived Abroad, September 27, 2009, 4:47 pm, GREAT BRITAIN
* International Dispatch, September 25, 2009, 11:19 am, ISC NEW YORK NY(USPS)
* Arrival
* Processed through Sort Facility, September 24, 2009, 8:15 pm, LINTHICUM HEIGHTS, MD 21090
* Electronic Shipping Info Received, September 24, 2009

I love that it says "delivered in CANADA" as if there were only one mailbox.

I've been amused at my local mailman's attempts to hide or protect packages that he delivers. My current house has a small stoop with shrubs on either side, so from the street view, you can pretty much see everything. If the package is too big for my house box, he puts it between the screen door and the wood door. Too big to sit between the doors, he puts it behind the shrubs. One rainy day, the package was behind the shrubs, with the welcome mat on top.

What a nice guy!

We got our favorite carrier back recently, after a woman did our route who was stupid enough to reach over the fence and try to pet a dog who obviously hates all mail carriers.

Anyway, I spotted him wearing a Livestrong bracelet a long time ago, then he asked my son about the bike rack on the back of my Beetle. So, he's a cyclist, though I've never talked to him about it. But today...I saw him passing us in his mail truck, smoking a cigarette and TEXTING with both elbows on the wheel (and my son said, "And he was driving on the WRONG side of the vehicle!) (Texting while driving is illegal in my state now.)

We still love him as a mail carrier, though.

Karen

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Originally Posted by Catriona

Deeiamond, are these packages you're receiving in Singapore or in the US? If it's Singapore, I'm not sure it's the USPS fault.

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The US. In Singapore, they don't leave packages unattended, its all signature, and the postal service is brilliant. then again, the country is tiny, so can't really compare...

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Originally Posted by bmccasland

I've been amused at my local mailman's attempts to hide or protect packages that he delivers. My current house has a small stoop with shrubs on either side, so from the street view, you can pretty much see everything. If the package is too big for my house box, he puts it between the screen door and the wood door. Too big to sit between the doors, he puts it behind the shrubs. One rainy day, the package was behind the shrubs, with the welcome mat on top.

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such a nice man!!! wish the temp postman at my bf's place in the US was so nice. (the regular salesman was nice)

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Originally Posted by Trek420

I still think they do an amazing job for very little. Like the time I reused an envelope (tip, don't do that if it has one of those barcode things. Regardless of what you write it goes THERE. Duh :rolleyes: ;) Hey, I have an excuse; I was at the airport, had paid all my bills over the phone but needed to mail a check and had that one envelope).

They got it back to me with a lovely little personal note.

OTOH with all their losses to e-mail, autopayment, paying online, plus I think all of us are trying to reduce our carbon footprint, protect our privacy and get rid of junk mail ... so what does USPO do?

They try to compete with UPS, Fedex, DHL etc. :confused:

The one thing they have an exclusive on is letters. Nobody UPS's a holiday card that I know of. ;)

Imagine if they got into the business of "bringing back the letter" with shops right inside the post offices with cards, lovely stationary and invites, local post cards, chisel tip pens and calligraphy books, real address books as opposed to ones built into your phone, those little lap top writing desks ....

when they make me Postmaster General that's what I'll do. :rolleyes: ;)

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After checking with a few folks, found out people are finally getting their cards.

By some miracle, my parents even got their card, after the postal code was corrected by post office. Postal code I had was from their previous address...um..8 years ago. Which I got from a database. Database therefore not cleansed.

Anyway. A happy ending. :o I wonder if the calligraphy lettering on front helped motivate them to look up postal code. You know, do a good deed when the address made effort to have card envelope look nice? :o

I like to fantasize. :p:D

Yes, Trek, l love handmade paper, my calligraphic chisel tip pens (my ink bottles are still around and the steel nibs), fine tissues, mulberry papers, etc. It must be the sensory experience of feeling and seeing textured fine papers.