Flea Market Love Letters

This August, I'm putting my letter writing skills to use for good. I've created 31 letter writing prompts for A Note a Day August, and I'll be writing one handwritten letter every day throughout the month in support of From Me to You. By the end of August, I'll have donated 31 letters through the charity's Donate a Letter program. I'd love for you to join in too. Use the prompt list below to write one letter, a few letters, or even all 31 throughout August. Every handwritten

On Paper Fest Summary

We're no strangers to loving a wax seal here at Flea Market H.Q. In this post from 2024 I shared a bit about the history of wax seals plus some shots of our own small collection of the tools necessary to achieve a seal. So when I saw this collection on popular second-hand resale site 'Vinted' I knew they had to come home with me. This is by far the largest collection of 'incomplete' wax seals I've come across as a collector. With over 30 different seals and wax colors the my

Longtime readers here at Flea Market H.Q. will know that we not only love the letters themselves but have in recent years expanded to collecting the various bits and bobs -- accoutrements, if you will -- that are letter adjacent. Back in 2021 we shared our collection of antique letter writing 'guides' as a monthly series. That's why in London earlier this year on a letter ladies themed weekend, we were thrilled to be gifted this delicate relic of postal history: a pocket lett

The thing about a letter is the best ones rarely arrive when we're expecting them. That goes for passion projects, too. 9 years ago I started photographing envelopes and sharing them on Instagram. And now we're here looking at almost a decade of a project and the community that has knit itself together around it. Creating this space has been one of the greatest joys of my life. It has brought me friendship, allowed me to explore the world differently and do my absolute favor

3 tips to cure a letter writing dry spell

An introduction to Liz Maguire, creator and curator of the project.

Once or twice a year there will come an email to the Flea Market Love Letters inbox (info@fleamarketloveletters.com) where someone writes asking if the archive (therefore I, Liz Maguire, creator and curator) would be interested in either purchasing a collection of letters or receiving a collection. Historically I have said no to these solicitations. Why? Because letters are an inherently and intensely personal thing. Emotions are attached and when someone directly linked to t

Hello reader! Liz Maguire, creator and curator of the project, here. In June of 2025 the Flea Market Love Letters archive turned 8 years...

Hip, hip, hooray we're 8 years old! It feels like another lifetime back in D.C. in 2017 when the archive first took shape. Back then it...

According to a mix of sources, there are between 30 - 60 global postal or communication themed museums around the world. In this post...

In this edition of Books About Letters we're chatting all about a gorgeous epistolary novel. When I found the striking cover of "The...

Way back in 2020 I was a guest on the popular podcast 'What Should I Read Next?' where the host Anne Bogel recommended 3 'Books That Read...

Here at Flea Market Love Letters HQ we're always on the look out for 'letters in the wild' like these two we've found here in Ireland....

In the last 6 months I've received a record number of emails into the project. It's time to bring the Flea Market Love Letters community...

Every month in the Flea Market Love Letters newsletter we share letters of found and lost letters from around the world. When we get a...

Have you ever seen a mural like this in your local post office (or federal building)? You can thank Franklin Delano Roosevelt for them!...

In October 2024 I got the opportunity to tour the inside of the Mankato, Minnesota post office -- and former court house! Closed since...

This May we're talking all things "Who's Got Mail? The History of Mail in America" by Linda Barrett Osborne. A nonfiction look at the...

An anecdotal history on wax seals.