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Letterboxing is a hobby that I discovered in the bathtub in April 1998 (reading my Smithsonian magazine). It combines my favorite pastimes of collecting, puzzle-solving, treasure hunting, exploring, and art. Letterboxing enthusiasts hide and hunt weatherproof containers in remote or scenic places. Each container holds a guestbook, a rubber stamp and stamp pad. The planter of the letterbox distributes clues to it's location. Clues are can be easy to difficult; finding a letterbox may require a combinaton of skills such as mapreading, orienteering, and puzzle-solving. Letterboxers carry their own stamp book and personal stamp when hunting for hidden boxes. Upon finding a letterbox, they will impress their own book using the found stamp, and leave their own stamping or personalization in the letterbox guestbook. Artistic letterboxers design and even carve their own stamps. The more clever letterboxers devise witty or challenging clues to the location of the boxes they've hidden. Letterboxes are hidden in various locations throughout the world, and the clues to find them are being shared among letterboxers and posted on the internet. Letterboxing has it's roots in England, where it originated nearly 150 years ago, and until recently has remained a well-kept secret. According to legend, in 1854 a Victorian gentlemen hiker placed his calling card in a bottle and stuck it into a bank at Cranmere Pool, in a remote part of Dartmoor in southwestern England. Over the years, the hobby developed; current reports indicate that as many as 10,000 letterboxes are presently hidden in Dartmoor, now a National Park. Locals, and now letterboxers from around the world, visit Dartmoor seeking out these coveted boxes. Some avid Dartmoor letterboxers have collected thousands of stampings over the years. In April of 1998, Smithsonian magazine published an article on the Dartmoor letterboxers. It wasn't long before the pastime took root in America, with enthusiasts organizing and communicating world-wide via the internet. The first American letterbox was planted at Prayer Rock, near Bristol, Vermont. 18 states now contain letterboxes, and the goal is to have letterboxes in all 50 states by the year 2000. I had the honor of planting Colorado's first letterbox in March of 1999. If you're interested in finding out more about letterboxing, there are several resources available. Reference Sources: United States: Dartmoor: Dartmoor Letterboxes and More Dartmoor Letterboxes by Anne Swinscow, Kirkford Publications (Totnes, Devon, U.K.) 101 Dartmoor Letterboxes by John Hayward with Anne Swinscow, Kirkford Publications Catalogue of Dartmoor Letterboxes |