Apothecary Pigeons Folded Origami Letter Pack — 6 in a Pack — By Pigeon

When John Morse-Brown reached out to me from across The Pond (he lives in the UK) to tell me about Pigeon, I did not need to finish reading his email before knowing I just had to have Pigeons at Pretty Things Cool Stuff!

John came up with the idea for Pigeon after he feel out of love with social media and was yearning for a more genuine sense of connection with friends. A very talented graphic artist with a mechanical engineering degree who loves origami, he welcomed the challenge to find a meaningful alternative, and he did!

Voila! Pigeon was born.

Inspired by origami, Pigeon is a beautifully crafted combination of letter and envelope. There are six pre-folded letters per pack — each folds into its own envelope and is sealed with a stamp.

Penning a Pigeon handwritten note provides a mindful, deeply satisfying and more personal alternative to the always-on, fear-of-missing-out, instant-gratification tools that dominate and shape so much personal communication these days.

They are increasingly rare occurrences, but what a lovely and welcome surprise it is when we get a handwritten, personal note in the mail these days. Unexpected little gifts that brighten the day, bring a smile and warm the heart.

Yes, a writing instrument other than a mouse and keyboard will be needed — something else to have the opportunity to personalize — and maybe even choose one in a favorite color.

Also, don't get hung up about your penmanship (when was the last time you heard that word!), mine certainly is not what it used to be because I am out of practice, but it is readable and will get better with each Pigeon. Think about it — writing by hand is a form of communication with others AND personal, individual expression!

Also, sending Pigeons gives you the opportunity to take advantage of the wonderful assortment of stamps available at USPS.com or from your local Post Office. 

With each Pigeon, beautiful illustrations and clever origami combine to inspire you to write a handwritten letter that will truly connect.

When completely unfolded, each Pigeon is 8 1/4" inches wide x 10 3/4" inches long. The writing area inside, which is conveniently positioned at a nice slant for writing comfort, is 5" inches wide by 7" inches long, and when folded back and ready for mailing, the Pigeon is a compact 3 1/4" inches wide x 4" inches long.

Pigeon was the winner of the 2024 Louie Award (awarded by the Greeting Card Association) for Paper Engineering Innovation, and was also shortlisted for the 2024 Gift of the Year. Because even with all of the high-tech wizardry, nobody has managed to recreate the magic and joy of the handwritten letter. So, Pigeon redesigned it for the 21st century.

Find your favourite pen, a spot in the sunshine, a cozy place to sit and gently unfold the gorgeously illustrated Pigeon to reveal the perfect frame for your thoughts, and a beautifully different way to show you're thinking of someone.

APOTHECARY PIGEONS

Fern, honesty, witch hazel — these medicinal marvels have been picked in the artist’s back garden, bathed in the warm glow of gentle sunlight, and captured in print as deep blue cyanotypes.

A creative collaboration with UK artist Jake Lever that resulted in these botanical beauties – they are healing balm for the soul.

Read this blog post John did about the collaboration with the artist to provide celebration of the healing qualities of our gardens and the natural world on our doorstep and about the beautiful art from of cyanotypes.

There are three pairs of three different designs. 

THE DETAILS

QUANTITY: 6 Pigeons per pack – six different designs

DIMENSIONS:

Completely unfolded: 8.25" inches W x 10.75" inches L

Writing area: 5" inches x 7" inches

Folded for mailing: 3.25" inches W x 4" inches L

REQUIRED TO MAIL: A stamp required to mail each Pigeon

THE PIGEON BACK STORY

John Morse-Brown came up with the idea of Pigeon after he fell out of love with social media.

He came to realise that most, if not all, of his online interactions were pretty negative. Either he was compulsively checking his posts for ‘likes’, or he was getting annoyed by people showing off and oversharing. (They probably felt the same about him). And somehow, no matter how many likes his Facebook posts received, it never felt enough. He always wanted more.

Of course, John loves his friends. But all that frantic activity was not fostering a genuine sense of connection - quite the opposite. It left him feeling hollow and empty. So he took the plunge and closed his social media accounts.

But then a good friend of his moved to the United States. And that meant he'd have to find a new way of keeping in touch. No more hanging out at his place or trips to the pub!

He wondered about letters, and even gave his friend a pack of Basildon Bond letter-writing paper and a monogrammed pen, but it didn't go down very well...

And that got John thinking. As a graphic designer with a mechanical engineering degree, who happens to love origami, this looked like a fun problem to solve... What was needed, he decided, was a way of making letter writing fun, new, beautiful, and easy.

And Pigeon is the result!

The envelope is integral to the letter, and the space to write in is not too daunting. He sometimes describes it as 'like Twitter (X), but with a pen'.

Once you get a correspondence going, you’ll always have your friend’s address to hand inside their latest letter. They're also the perfect size to hold a Polaroid photo, so you can slip in a selfie. And the designs mean each Pigeon is a small object of beauty.

If you don’t normally write letters, you’re in for an unexpected treat – the completely irrational joy of not receiving an instant reply to your message… It sounds perverse in our day and age, that having to wait can feel good. But it really does.

There’s a real pleasure in knowing that, in the next day or two, a friend will receive a completely personal note from you - just from you, and that you might get a hand-written reply sometime after that. Delayed gratification is good for the soul!

Sending one letter to one friend and waiting for one reply is entirely satisfying. It’s personal and unique; narrowcasting, not broadcasting.

Romantic as it sounds, with a letter you end up with a little part of your friend, to keep, forever. A letter holds its sentimental value in ways that a post or tweet — nothing digital — can't compare.