It was the early 1990s. The World Wide Web was in its infancy. The bulky desktop computers started finding their way into corners of living rooms. All family members shared one landline telephone. Music was on cassette tapes.
You were in your teenage years, spending a Saturday afternoon lying in bed, soaking up teen magazines, sticking cut-outs to your scrapbook. Dad knocked on the door to say you had mail: a letter from a friend living half the world away. You rushed downstairs and tore open the envelope in anticipation. The handwriting was expressive, and the message felt warm and genuine.
It is a romanticised version of the pre-digital age that has fuelled the recent analogue revival. The rise of snail mail clubs, in particular, offers Gen Zs a glimpse into an era most of them never lived through and few younger Millennials have firsthand memories of.
Curated themes, heartfelt letters, cozy artworks, monthly playlists. The snail mail clubs give artists the freedom to create a unique world in which their artistry, personality and community are the only rules. Most subscriptions cost around A$10 to A$25. A successful model could bring artists around $1,000 to $4,000 a month.
The numbers were telling: Google Trends shows worldwide searches for “snail mail subscription” skyrocketed by 250% in the past year. The movement is surprisingly popular in Australia, possibly due to the country’s strong small-business culture and vast geographical distances.
Creators From All Walks Of Life
And no, you don’t have to have an arts degree to set up a mail club. Madalin Giorgetta, a Melbourne-based nutritionist, is the creator behind the snail mail club Raindrops on Roses. The subscription offers a more tangible and thoughtful way for Madalin to share her passion for wellness.
“Think of it as a friend who sends you monthly reminders on how to feel your very whimsical best,” she said in a Substack post. “And no, that does not mean eating fewer calories and starting a juice cleanse. Instead, each letter includes rituals, activities and habits that help you nurture whimsy throughout the month.”
While Madalin used to sell workout guides to her Instagram followers, she said the daily content grind made her feel like she was “never really connecting with anybody.”
Alessia E’s Cloudy Club is a great example. The Brisbane-based ceramic artist, who has a legal background, created her $8 monthly mail club as a “little hug in the post.” She shares her thoughts on being a creative. “It’s scary yet therapeutic to pour your heart into letters that so many people worldwide will read,” she said.
Is It Too Late To Start A Snail Mail Club?
There were concerns, however, that the trend was wearing off. Alessia said her subscribers have dropped from over 1,500 to nearly 800, but she believed that people’s desire for authentic connection was unlikely to go away anytime soon.
“I personally think the trend is here to stay, there is a level of people that are only interested in following trends and maybe they will have dropped off now,” Alessia noted. “Snail mail is such a beautiful way to engage really tangibly with your audience, and I think that’s something that more and more people are craving and appreciating.”
The pre-digital age may be long gone. Today, social media lets you know what your distant relative had for lunch and what your childhood friend did over the weekend. But some of us are still yearning for that childhood joy of finding a handcrafted letter in the mailbox, even when it’s from someone we’ve never met.
Sources:
Photos from: Matilda Moon’s Mossheart Mail Club, Madalin Giorgetta’s Raindrops on Roses, Alessia E’s Cloudy Club
Words by: Nina Nguyen
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