Facts, figures, oh my! This March I got the chance to take a much needed dive into the archive and get my head around some of the admin elements of finding and storing almost 3,000 pieces of mail. So where shall we begin?
Since our start in 2017 we have featured over 600 "letters" from 24 different series. You've probably heard me wax on about that process before but in case not, here's a bit about how I -- very amateurly, I might mention -- preserve the letters in the collection.
Thanks to that admin day, I was able to sort through several collections to add 457 "new" letters to the inventory. There was particularly gnarly shopping bag of letters that ended up being 6 different series all together so that, that was a logistical nightmare but it got done. That brings our current count of letters in the archive somewhere near 4,000! Someone bust out the champagne.
From an estimation it looks like there's 150-200 letters more to be counted and added to the inventory in the coming time. There are also a number of letters incoming to the archive periodically over time so the figure always fluctuates! But for the time being, these are the most updated statistics about the "behind-the-scenes".
When a letter series is added to the inventory it's put in chronological order and each individual letter is sorted into a binder sleeve within a numbered binder. On last count there are over 50 "series" binders which I must admit are very, very satisfying when stacked -- and I mean, stacked! -- in the presses and on every available shelf space.
The numbered binder corresponds with an inventory sheet where we keep track of the number of letters in the series, the date frame of the series, and any notes (i.e. newspaper clippings, photographs etc. that were included). This amateur inventory system helps to organize the archive.
So there you have it! The most up-to-date facts and figures for the archive. Now, if we can just keep it this organized for a little while...oh, there's the postman with a new parcel of letters now! Best laid plans, and all that.
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Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed, let us know! Have a question about how the archive works? We'd love to help. Send us an email: info@fleamarketloveletters.com.
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