Chicago Tribune

Commentary: The digital age is destroying the art of the letter

Jay Alcazar grabs a pile of holiday greeting cards and other letters at the United States Postal Service's processing and distribution center in Capitol Heights, Md. in 2002..

A “Collection of Chicago Postal History,” an assemblage of thousands of letters, will be auctioned in March by H.R. Harmer Fine Stamp Auctions of New York City.

Nearly all were originally mailed from Chicago. They were found and collected over decades by Leonard Piszkiewicz, a retiree and former Chicagoan now living in Northern California.

The letters resurrect Chicago history; some were sent more than 200 years ago, the Chicago Sun-Times reports. “About 200 items will be offered individually, with the rest divided into groups. Minimum starting bids are expected to range from about $50 to

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from Chicago Tribune

Chicago Tribune5 min readSecurity
Cyberattacks On Ascension, Lurie Are The Latest In A String Of Health Care Breaches
First, they went after Lurie Children’s Hospital in Chicago. Next, cybercriminals attacked Ascension, a large nationwide health system with 14 hospitals in Illinois. In both cases, the hospital systems kept providing care, but took down their electro
Chicago Tribune4 min read
Chicago Suburbs Are A Big Population Loser In Recent Years, Census Estimates Show
Though the city of Chicago has lost residents in recent years, the suburbs in Cook County have lost more, while suburbs far from the city are booming, new U.S. census estimates show. Chicago lost about 82,000 people, or 3% of its population, from Apr
Chicago Tribune4 min read
‘The Big Cigar’ Review: When A Black Panther Founder Fled To Cuba With The Help Of A Hollywood Producer
Stop me if you’ve heard this one: A Black Panther revolutionary and a Hollywood insider walk into a bar … and plan a caper that has the latter helping to smuggle the former out of the country. That story — about political activist Huey P. Newton and

Related Books & Audiobooks