History of Letterboxing, by Mark Pepe

[Shared and posted with permission.]

Good morning. While many of you don’t know me, Sue and I have been Letterboxing since 2002. One of my interests in this hobby is the history of Letterboxing which I wrote and shared with a group of new letterboxers in 2013 at a beginners seminar we had then. I thought I would share it below. Thanks.

The History of Letterboxing

by Mark Pepe

It is difficult to believe that 2013 marks the 15th year of letterboxing in the United States. While this is a relatively new hobby in this country, it has thrived for over 150 years in its British home, specifically Dartmoor where it all began!

Our beloved hobby began in 1854 when a Dartmoor guide, James Perrott first placed his calling card in a container. This initial history can only be recounted by one of the authorities on the subject, Anne Swinscow, authoress; who along with her husband, Godfrey (“God”) are responsible for the preservation of the hobby. Anne told me that she started writing books about Dartmoor and its letterboxing as a way to share her husband’s hobby. In her book, “More Dartmoor Letterboxes” published in 1986, Anne wrote the following:

“The idea of letterboxing on Dartmoor originated in 1854 when a Dartmoor guide, named James Perrott, placed a bottle in a bank at Cranmere Pool as a receptacle for the (calling) cards of intrepid walkers that he escorted there. This idea was described by one Victorian authority as a ‘snare for Tourists.’ But if one was taking a guided walk on the moor it was useful to have a goal, and, having reached that goal, a method of recording the fact. At that time there was of course no military ring road (as there is today), so the walk to Cranmere was sufficiently difficult to be worth recording. Leaving one’s calling card was the “Kilroy was here” of the times.

By 1888, a tin box had replaced the bottle, and, in 1905 a visitors book was provided and gradually ones’ signature in the book took over from the calling cards. Later, a rubber stamp and ink pad were added and it became fashionable to leave a post card addressed to oneself or a friend in the box, which would be stamped by the next caller to the box and posted on (via a more conventional letterbox) from his home town. In 1937, this site was taken over by the Western Morning News, and a granite box was erected to replace the cairn. This box, built like a miniature stone hut, still stands and is, in fact, the only Dartmoor Letterbox that in any way resembles its G. P. O. (Government Post Office) counterpart, and one of the only two that have any permanent structure at all – the other being at Duck’s Pool.”

In the mid 1970s, this growing hobby on Dartmoor became a concern for the landowners--trampled or destroyed fields, etc. It was then that Anne’s husband, Godfrey, sat down with the powers that be and developed the Code of Ethics that was designed to protect the antiquities and property damage. As God told our group when we met with him during a Pinecone Adventure in Dartmoor, it took some luck and “many drinks” to convince them that this hobby could coexist with conservation of the land and antiquities in mind. Without God’s contribution of this code, it was threatened that the only two letterboxes that would remain would be the Cranmere Pool and Duck’s Pool letterboxes because of their permanent structures. This code, similar to our Leave No Trace Policy is still in effect and honored by our British counterparts.

In the early 1990s, before letterboxing got its U.S. launch, Valley Quests were born out of the tradition of Dartmoor’s program. VQ’s main thrust was that these quests would foster a sense of place and strengthen relationships between schools and the natural/cultural heritage of these communities in the upper Connecticut River Valley (northern Vermont and New Hampshire) by partnering children with community adults and civic groups. This program mushroomed under the guidance of Steve Glazer, who can be seen in Rae Record’s (one of the letterboxing US’s initial boxers) brief film of that first gathering in Killington, Vermont. You can view this film of the United States' first letterboxing gathering via Rae Record’s interview on our “Letterboxing Interviews” link on our blog, pineconeboxing.jigsy.com.

Then, in the April 1998 edition of the Smithsonian Magazine, there appeared an article called “They Live and Breathe Letterboxing,” written by New Hampshire’s Chris Granstrom. This article detailed for US readers a hobby that existed in the remote section of England called Dartmoor and “letterboxing” was that hobby’s name. This odd amalgamation of walking, scavenger hunting, and orienteering had existed for over 100 years at the time of this article and was enjoyed by a band of hearty followers who spent much of their free time foraging for stamps and visitors books hidden among the tors of the Moor and in pubs. Several pictures were included that showed various letterboxers going about their hunts including God, the head of the Dartmoor 100 Club, who has since retired as its head and his new replacements, Stephanie and Roger Paul.

That Smithsonian article piqued the interest of a small band of Americans who would eventually be recognized as the pioneers who began this hobby in the US--names now famous like Erik (The Vermont Viking) and Susan Davis of Vermont, Tom Cooch of Vermont, Mitch Klink (Der Mad Stamper) of Oregon, Daniel Servatius of Wisconsin, Randy Hall (Mapsurfer) of Pennsylvania, and several others. Emails began to float via the Internet between these Americans and some key Brits like Graham Howard (The Moorland Wizard) and others. These initial contacts helped this very first bunch of newbies get their feet wet in the letterboxing pool.

Graham Howard finally ended up pairing up these American newbies so that they could begin initial contact to get the ball rolling. Inspired by their British counterparts and emails between the U.S. group, letterboxing artistry in the U.S. was born with the planting of Prayer Rock – the first (hand-carved) U.S. letterbox by Erik and Susan Davis in Bristol, Vermont. Tom Cooch also got things started by planting the first letterbook located in the Kimball Library in Vermont. Letterboxing in the U.S. was on its way! Please note that both of these historic boxes still exist.

This group of U.S. boxers formed a talk list on which began many communications and where eventually clues began to appear. This main form of communication still exists as the “big talk list;” the Letterbox-USA talk list. Initially, this was the only means by which clues could be disseminated since it was long before any of the present day websites. We suggest that you read those early posts on this talk list as it details in the form of posts the questions, concerns that this initial group had about the present and the future of this hobby.

In 2001, a clue repository website, LBNA and its logo and main splash page were designed by Mitch Klink (DMS), an Oregon web designer. This website included a section written by Erik Davis called “Getting Started” and a stamp carving tutorial by Mitch called “How to Make a Rubber Stamp." DMS had been carving stamps for many years, particularly from erasers. After Erik’s passing, Susan Davis, Erik’s wife, told me that one of Erik’s main concerns was that letterboxing be free and available to any child, rich or poor, via a computer at a library or school if there wasn’t one located in the home.

Today, letterboxing is still a pretty cost effective means to recreate. The Letterbox-USA talk list was a method by which boxers could communicate with each other and get their clues out there for finders in a more effective manner. In the early stages of the LBNA website, the webmaster had to type up and publish clues for new boxes. Randy Hall told me in our interview with him that he would spend about 4 hours a day just inputting clues. Jay Drew also came along later to help in those efforts. Then the LBNA website was made more user-friendly, allowing any boxer to set up their account and input their own clues.

One of the early letterboxers, Rae Record, posed a major challenge to posting clues for the webmasters. In her box, The Phantom of the Boardwalk, there was no location listed for the box as it was a new type of letterbox, a mystery box, where the finder had to determine the location and then follow the clues. This box’s clues languished for months in the inbox of the webmasters. How could they post to a map by location this box without a starting point? Mystery boxes were born and given their place on the website and a new element was added to this growing hobby.

The complexion of letterboxing changed in 2004 when Ryan Carpenter put forth his effort now known as Atlas Quest, a website that not only hosted clues, but allowed for a letterboxer to make a profile and post on a myriad of talk list boards, all in one place. While some purists liked the older LBNA site for its lack of bells and whistles, Atlas Quest continues to grown by leaps and bounds in participants on the website and letterboxing in general. New boxers into the family brought about new ideas like Letterboxing Trading Cards (LTCs) and other ideas. While some of these new ideas might not fit everyone, they go along with letterboxing’s general theme of something for everyone. Clues became available instantaneously and the hobby continued to grow.

We have never seen a more diverse group of people come together so effortlessly bound by a common love of this hobby. And who knows in the coming years how much this obsession will change. What should stay constant throughout this growth is respect for each other, the box that you find, and the effort put forth by the planter. Replanting better than you found the box so it will remain there for others to find is key. We hope you have enjoyed this letterboxing history and that you will read more in depth about our roots. Now just have fun and get out there and box.

Mark Pepe