Overview
Everyone knows novelty-sized things are infinitely better than their regular-sized counterparts. Fishbowl margaritas! The teeny tiny toys you get in Kinder Surprise eggs! The only drawback I can think of is 'fun-sized' chocolate bars. There's nothing 'fun' about teasing me with a Mars bar half as big as it should rightfully be. Now the ever-popular novelty trade is turing its sights to the post — can our love of adorably small things save a dying industry?
The World's Smallest Post Service is a project run out of California by Leafcutter Designs and its founder Lea Redmond, though Redmond herself can't really tell you why it exists. Since launching a tiny letter transcription service in 2008, Redmond has been channeling her passion for miniature things and finessing the ultimate form of correspondence. Six years and one fully-funded Kickstarter project later, the tiny stationery service has hit the big time (pun unfortunately intended).
The entire package — which includes enough materials to create 24 tiny letters, six tiny packages and one 3D mailbox — is only as wide as a regular pen and features a much-needed magnifying glass. Once the kit is purchased you can scribe the cutesiest of cutesy messages to your friends, pass notes in class without ever being caught, and your life will invariably be one step closer to that of a character in a Wes Anderson film.
Of course, these novelties aren't wholly impractical. The deluxe kit features translucent regular-sized envelopes so you can send your tiny mail through the real-world post. It may be a little more hassle than the regular route, but at least the person receiving the letter will know that you battled the fiddly ordeal that is tiny envelope origami and microscopic stamp hell. How romantic.
The Kickstarter campaign is still in full swing despite having already reached its goal (it seems people really, really want this). Get on board now if you're keen to nab some of the pledgers' perks. Remember: Twitter may be an easier means to sending tiny messages but it's nowhere near as darn cute.
