Monster Mail

This monster letter sent by Phillip (the USA) landed in my mailbox two weeks ago. (Well, actually, it didn't: I had to go to the post office to retrieve it.)

All these monsters together! Of course, nobody dared to face the monsters, and the envelope arrieved safe and sound. 

And with even more monsters inside. As First Day covers...

And a mint pane!

Monsters Go

Monsters Go is an Instagram account is a weekly art challenge that proposes to re-draw a monster, taking a kid drawing as a prompt. 

It exists since 2016, but I did not know until I got this letter by Heleen (the Netherlands), inspired by Dylan's monster. Of course, any monster can become a mail monster...

You have below the original drawing, and you can see all the re-drawings by clicking on the hashtag.

#monstersgodylan

My reply to Heleen was sent inside this envelope featuring another mail monster, inspired by the drawing below.

#monstersgoalexander

Just let me know if you with your next letter to be accompanied by a mail monster!

Sunday Stamps | Do These Cute Monsters Scare You?

I got these on the back of postcards sent by Bryon (the USA). I wish they had existed when the Mail Monsters Project was alive!

These monsters are the creation of Canadian author and illustrator Elise Gravel. The stamps were issued on 24 September 2021. In the pane margin area surrounding the 20 stamps are small printed hearts, hats, flowers, word balloons and thought bubbles that can be applied to the stamp when it is used to frank a card or letter for mailing. (More information about this issue)

Go to Sunday Stamps for scarier stamps!

Global Mail Monsters

These stamps have landed in my friend Bryon's mailbox during the last week: pen strikes on stamps from the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Canada.

Some questions arise here. Like... 

Who makes the scribbles? How long does it take to find a pen, hold up the delivery process and do the deed? At the source post office? The destination post office? What is going through the postal workers mind when they inscribe the scribbles? Are they some kind of person who think the worlds economy will be cheated by the possibility an uncancelled stamp could be used a second time?

 And, especially: Is there any country Mail Monsters free?

To 'My' Mail Monster

Usually, I am the only one at home who receive all sort of creative mail. Thus, I was really amazed when I find a letter addressed "To the Mail Monster in Eva's House at...".

I thought I have discovered that a Mail Monster was living at Heleen's place... And the fact is that I have another one (with a big moustache!) living at home.

As you can see, there is no doubt that the letter was posted by a Mail Monster...

I'm happy it seems a friendly one. At least, with other mail monsters, according with the letter it wrote (with its monstrous handwriting)...

17-4-2019

dear Eva's house Mail Monster! 

I'm happy to meet you! I hope and guess that you like mail as much as I do :D

Many greetings from Amstelland region

signed [a four-fingers hand]

[teeth print]

Now I'm afraid that, if my mail monster finds the letter, it will steal my stamps to reply...

That Awkward Moment

And this is what you would call 
an extremely awkward moment:
Heleen finds out that a Mail Monster is living at home

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you might know that something mysterious happened with a letter I sent to Heleen, belonging to the Mail Monsters Project.

On this postcard I sent later to her, I tried to capture the very moment when she discovered what had happened. You can see it also on this post of Heleen's blog, dedicated to weird existing (?!) animals.

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Do you remember the Mail Monsters Project? I finished most of the letters with this words:

I hope you enjoy this project as much as I do. And, who knows? Maybe another mail monster will appear in your mailbox…

And this is what has happened! This pink monster was one of those that went astray. It seems it reached its destination (Heleen's mailbox), but them, who knows? Maybe it was attacked by a home-loving mail monster. Heleen sends so many pieces of mail that probably she houses her own resident mail monster...

Sometimes, the Mail Monsters
lick a stamp for desert. Delicious!

But then, after long months... it reappeared! (And, amazingly, he has changed my address to the current one).

Sometimes, the Mail Monsters
lick a stamp for desert. Delicious!
Even sticker stamps :)

It wasn't 100% the same... but almost. (Just to be clear: I did not drew the monster on the white envelope. I only drew the one on the pink envelope.)

And it brought even some replies to the question Do you believe in Monsters?

I used to not believe in mail monsters until I lost Eva's mmm* in my own home! So the mail monster not only is in the mail buildings, mail vehicles and in mail boxes. The mail monster is everywhere!*mail monsters mail

Huh? What to you mean, "Mail Monsters"? It was Alice.

No

Yes, because they make cards like this one shrink. And they eat mail. And they tear or cut or fold the mail...

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Even if some (6) Mail Monsters never came back, eventually 22 of them landed again in my mailbox, from 12 different countries. 

All the participants have been amazingly creative, both in the texts and in the drawings, collages, etc. Actually, I don't know exactly how many people have contributed, because some people get their children (or grandchildren) involved, or their friends.

Thanks to the project, I have discovered a lot about the Mail Monsters! About their appearance (ugly, hairy, multicolour, human!...); their size (big, small, microscopic...); where do they live; which kind of mail they like most; their personalities (shy, greedy, elusive...); their activities...

Every envelope in my mailbox was a party. So... thank you, thank you, thank you!

I hope that you, participant or reader, have enjoyed as much as I did. And remember...

Beware of the Mail Monsters

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Inside one of Bryon's letters, I found some piece of coffee news, maybe related to another kind of mail monsters.

I am not sure that you can read the picture, so here is the text:

Undelivered mail: Most people don't like their mail to be delivered late. But getting a letter a few days or weeks after it was mailed is nothing compared to a postal problem uncovered in Vicenza, in northern Italy. More than 40 containers were found in a postal worker's garage. In the boxes were 1,100 pounds of mail, including bills, letters, and bank correspondance. Many of the items were years old. After the discovery, the postal service lost no time suspending the culprit, and lawyers were called to fint out what charges could be made. Authorities intend to try to deliver all pieces of mail to the addresses on the envelopes.

What do you think about? 

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But, even if some envelopes get lost in way...

If people stop sending letters...
what will the Mail Monsters eat?

So, please... Never stop sending mail!

The Mail Monsters Project | 24

And you can learn a bit more about the Mail Monsters with those envelopes that went astray...

Sometimes, the Mail Monsters
lick a stamp for desert. Delicious!

In the middle of the ocean,
there are a tiny island,
a lone pilar box,
and an almost desperate Mail Monster
waiting for letters.

You can find Monsters of all shapes and colours
in the mail world...

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The Mail Monsters are smarter
than most people think.

These are so clever that they disappeared forever...

The Mail Monsters Project | 22

The number of Mail Monsters seems infinite...

And they take different shapes and sizes. For instance, Philippe show here his mail (orange colour), and a yellow mail monster, invisible to the naked eye, who is about to devour it.

But not all the Mail Monsters are this small...

Oh! Yes! I do believe in mail monsters! Oui, je crois que les monstres du courrier existent.

Mais ce ne sont pas des petites bestioles invisibles, ce sont des êtres humains, des employés de la Poste qui, parfois, ne transportent pas le courrier que je leur confie. (certes, courrier non réglementaire)

Heureusement, ils sont très rares. En 35 ans d'art postal, seules 4 ou 5 lettres ne sont pas parvenues à mes destinataires.

Only 4 or 5 letters lost in 35 years! Have you been that lucky?

The Mail Monsters Project | 21

The Mail Monsters grasp a letter whenever they can.

Don't tell me I didn't warn you...

The Mail Monsters Project | 20

One more letter, please!

This Mail Monster visited Fabienne in France, and it came back with a friend:

Not only they brought me a little present.They also were very respectful with the envelope and didn't touch the stamps!

Do you believe in Mail Monsters? Why?

Oui j'y crois comme je crois au Père Noël.

Car au fond de moi il reste une âme d'enfant, et que le rêve en fait partie. Je crois que dans ce monde imparfait il existe des êtres capables de connecter les gens et les mail monsters en font partie comme des elfes posées sur une épaule.

The Mail Monsters Project | 19

This collage-postcard with a Mail Monster appeared spontaneously in my mail box. (Well, I guess Eduard had something to be with the fact...)

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The big Monsters eat letters.
The small Monsters only eat stamps.

This harrowing monster was drawn by Zinn (age 4). It has big teeth to chew up postcards and envelopes, and it is hairy all over so stamps will stick to it.

Mim had a horrible encounter with a Mail Monter. A beheading one!!!

Yes, I believe in Mail Monster because: One time I sent a collage to someone in Holland. It was a woman and a square of color and a letter "n". The recipient had moved and my collage returned to me. The Mail Monster had eaten the woman's head, nothing else.

Was this the most dangerous Mail Monster in the world?

The Mail Monsters Project | 17

The Mail Monsters eat letters for breakfast,
for lunch, for dinner...

Although this collaged mail monster isn't very fat. And it seems to eat not only letters, but many things like secrets, words, brain candy, dreams, fantasies...

Phillip has experienced the Mail Monsters activities, too:

When letters arrive with small (and sometimes large!) pieces missing I like to believe that mail monsters are real.

I think they are shy, quiet, lonely creatures that hide in dark places in post office mail bugs and sorting machines, just waiting for a piece of news, poetry, information, story to grab. Usually just a nibble, but sometimes they get carried away by the delicious words and pretty stamps.

They don't really mean to be monsters, they are just misunderstood!

The sender added the Moon stamp because he likes to think the mail monsters are more active during the night.