{"id":8381,"date":"2014-09-05T08:18:29","date_gmt":"2014-09-05T13:18:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/?p=8381"},"modified":"2014-09-05T08:18:29","modified_gmt":"2014-09-05T13:18:29","slug":"long-traditions-for-the-american-amateur-press-association-and-the-postal-service","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/2014\/09\/05\/long-traditions-for-the-american-amateur-press-association-and-the-postal-service\/","title":{"rendered":"Long traditions for the American Amateur Press Association and the Postal Service"},"content":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, September 3, 2014<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

With a long and rich history, the U.S. Postal Service has helped foster and connect communities that defy geographical boundaries. One of these communities is the membership of the\u00a0<\/span>American Amateur Press Association<\/a>\u00a0<\/span>(AAPA). We contacted AAPA\u2019s Official Mailer Frederick Moe to learn more about AAPA\u2019s mission and why they depend on a strong Postal Service to keep their organization running.<\/p>\n

The American Amateur Press Association was founded in the 1930\u2019s, back when \u201camateur\u201d meant \u201chobby\u201d and the word \u201cblog\u201d had yet to be invented. The AAPA brought people together who loved the letterpress and amateur journalism and wanted to create journals for the \u201csheer joy of doing it, without financial compensation.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to Moe, back then:<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople used to set type and print their own newsletters, booklets, and ephemera on a variety of topics and share them with one another. One person might write something about farming conditions and someone else might discuss favorite books that they had read recently. People shared recipes and family stories as well as deeper philosophies and ideas. Some members enjoyed designing fonts and illustrations. \u201c<\/p>\n

\"blogpost2\"<\/p>\n

In the early days of the AAPA, members turned their garages and basements into printing shops to create everything ranging from \u201csimple one-page sheets to almost book-like tomes.\u201d\u00a0 The group\u00a0did keep up with the times though. Eventually xerography and desktop publishing methods became popular among members as well.<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s members cover a wide swath of the American demographic. Like those in the early days of the organization, some members have professional experience in newspaper journalism or printing, but most members honed their craft as true amateurs.<\/p>\n

Each month, members send Fred Moe, the AAPA official mailer, their publications for him to sort and compile. Fred sends out packages to the 170 members with each bundle usually consist of 12 to 15 member-created booklets, broadsides, and zines. Since each person\u2019s journal is printed at various intervals, the contents of the bundle are a surprise to the members every time. The AAPA relies on the Postal Service\u2019s timely services to ensure the bundle comes together each month\u2014complete with an official AAPA news journal.<\/p>\n

But the flow of mail does not stop when Fred sends out the bundle each month. Often, members share their thoughts and responses to particular pieces by mailing the author letters or postcards.\u00a0 The USPS continues to connect AAPA members in many ways throughout the month.<\/p>\n

As Fred says:<\/p>\n

\u201cMail delivery is at the heart of our AAPA community. Letterpress machines, foundry type, ink, paper and laser printers are the tools that we use, but the Postal Service is the essential ingredient that makes it all work. Without the Postal Service, the AAPA as we know it would disappear. We\u2019re not interested in using any other delivery services because for almost 80 years, using the USPS has worked for us without fail.<\/p>\n

Door-to-door delivery is important for our older members who may have difficulty with mobility or transportation. It is certainly important for me as the central mailer. My local letter carrier, Mike, brings package after package every month right to my kitchen door, no matter how heavy they may be. All of the postal workers in Warner know me personally and have contributed to making my venture as the AAPA mailer a success.\u201d<\/p>\n

This year, the American Amateur Press Association will be celebrating 78 years. Here\u2019s wishing them another 78 with the support of a strong Postal Service!<\/p>\n

Delivering for America<\/a><\/p>\n

\"3-NALC<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Wednesday, September 3, 2014 With a long and rich history, the U.S. Postal Service has helped foster and connect communities that defy geographical boundaries. One of these communities is the membership of the\u00a0American Amateur Press Association\u00a0(AAPA). We contacted AAPA\u2019s Official Mailer Frederick Moe to learn more about AAPA\u2019s mission and why they depend on a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1815,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-8381","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nalc-news","last_archivepost"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8381","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8381"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8381\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8382,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8381\/revisions\/8382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8381"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8381"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/postalemployeenetwork.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8381"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}