National Letter Writing Week, a 20x200 Vintage Edition
10"x8" ($35) | 14"x11" ($75) | 20"x16" ($260)
Collect this edition
Apple pie who? If you ask us, there’s nothing as American as the Postal Service and it’s a great day to show them some love. For starters, the PO’s been (ahem) delivering miracles since the beginning of the pandemic, intrepid carriers putting their lives on the line to bring our purchases to our doorstep and our votes to election officials. Plus, they got positively pummeled over the holidays. Time to show our support! But most importantly, it’s National Letter Writing Week, and we’ve got just the Vintage Edition for the occasion—a graphic, 30s-era design that comes by way of the Windy City. Bonus: it’s a beautiful reminder to appreciate our all-important Postal Service.
Bold, blocky, and rocking that red, white & blue, National Letter Writing Week shows a mail carrier suited up with a letter in hand. That sans-serif geometric typeface jumps out, announcing the week and, at the bottom, affirming “that letter will be appreciated.” The artwork was originally produced in Chicago on behalf of the Works Progress Administration (WPA)—part of President Roosevelt’s New Deal program to get Americans back to work during the Great Depression, and one of the first U.S. government programs to support the arts. Over 5000 artists were employed to carry out assorted art projects, including designing some 2000 posters depicting various initiatives sponsored by the government. National Letter Writing Week is our newest limited-edition from the WPA’s poster archives (carefully retouched and remastered by our team, naturally!), but our WPA collection also includes images vouching for victory gardens, good hygiene, the National Park Service, library literature, and outdoor recreation, among other activities and ideas for the collective good.
Collective good. That’s something we can get behind, and something the United States Postal Service inherently stands for. Created in 1775 to address a crucial need for connection and communication, the USPS preceded the founding of our country, and is one of the few government agencies explicitly authorized by the Constitution. (Read more about the history of the USPS here, and join us in wondering why the heck you didn’t learn this stuff in school.) It’s been an essential service ever since. Almost a century after National Letter Writing Week was launched, we rely on the mail more than ever—to safely get supplies during the pandemic, to count our votes in an historic election, to deliver life-saving medications, and so much more. As most folks know, the Postal Service was swamped this holiday season, crippled by an unprecedented number of packages coupled with Covid-19-related safety precautions and staff shortages. This was exacerbated, of course, by ongoing underfunding and Trump-appointed Postmaster General Louis DeJoy who, since June, has implemented changes that have negatively impacted mail delivery nationwide.
DeJoy, Trump, and others like them want to make the Post Office look bad in a push for privatization. That would leave the 7 million people the PO employs out of luck, 20% of whom are veterans. It would also amount to exorbitant prices that many working class people won’t be able to afford. And the private sector? Experts say they couldn’t handle the mail and remain profitable anyway. So buy books of beautiful stamps, write your loved ones letters, and be sure to send a few to your representatives too, imploring them to help preserve the Postal Service for the future. While you’re doing that, see if they’ve supported the Post Office in the past—make that vote count and send the PO haters packing posthaste. We’re hoping National Letter Writing Week will get you fired up.
With art for everyone,
Team 20x200
