Letterboxing
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Letterboxing is an outdoor hobby that combines elements of orienteering, art and problem-solving.
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Background
Letterboxers hide small, weatherproof boxes in publicly-accessible places (like parks) and post clues to finding the box online on one of several Web sites (see below). However, clues to finding some of the most highly-sought boxes are passed around by word of mouth. Individual letterboxes usually contain a logbook, an often hand-carved ink stamp and an ink pad. Finders make an imprint of the letterbox's stamp on their personal logbook, and leave an impression of their personal stamp on the letterbox's logbook — as proof of having found the box. Many letterboxers keep careful track of their "find count".
Clues to their locations on Dartmoor, England, are traditionally distributed in print format in the Dartmoor 100 Club's regularly-updated catalogue; in the United States, clues are published on Letterboxing North America and other websites. Letterboxes are sited in other locations in England, the main areas being The New Forest, Hampshire, and The North York Moors, Yorkshire. Interest in letterboxing in the US is generally considered to have started with a feature article in the Smithsonian Magazine in April 1998.
History and origins
Modern-day letterboxing's origins can be traced to Dartmoor in 1854, when hikers on the moors began to leave a letter or postcard inside a box along the trail (sometimes addressed to themselves, sometimes a friend or relative) — hence the name "letterboxing". The next person to discover the site would collect the postcards and mail them. The first Dartmoor letterboxes were so remote and well-hidden that only the most determined walkers ended up finding them, allowing weeks to pass before the letter made its way home. Increasingly, however, they have been located in relatively accessible sites. As a result, the tradition of leaving a letter or postcard in the box has been forgotten.
Types of letterboxes
In the US, letterboxes have developed new forms — there are now many different kinds of letterboxes, each with some specific distinction. These include:
- Hitchhikers
- A traveling letterbox, it is placed in a traditional letterbox for another boxer to find, and when found, is stamped just like a traditional letterbox, but is then carried with the boxer to the next box they find — thus, hitchhiking.
- Cooties
- These are much like hitchhikers, except instead of traveling from letterbox to letterbox, they travel from letterBOXER to letterBOXER. Usually small, these little buggers are intentionally planted on letterboxers on the trails, at gatherings, or on unsuspecting, unattended letterboxer's bags. Most people are subtle about cooties — but not all.
- Parasites
- A parasite is very much like a hitchhiker- except, instead of hitchhiking between letterboxes on their own, they hitch rides on other hitchhikers. When they join with a hitchhiker ('infecting' it), it is stamped into the hitchhiker like a normal hitchhiker. The parasite also stamps into the letterbox that hitchhiker is placed in, 'infecting' the letterbox, as well. In the event of being placed in a letterbox that has multiple hitchhikers in it (such as a Hitchhiker Hostel), the parasite 'infects' all of the hitchhikers inside. The boxer that has done the moving also has the choice of sending the parasite along with a different hitchhiker. (This is a relatively new variation of letterbox, and has only just recently begun to take off)
- Virtuals
- Online letterboxes; actually a scavenger hunt of sorts through different websites, collecting answers to questions posted as the clues to the box. Answers sometimes are unscrambled or simply emailed to the creator, who sends them an image of the 'stamp' via email, or the final answer is put in a blank in a web address, which takes them to the image online.
- Mystery boxes
- These are usually traditional boxes, but these "mystery" boxes have either vague starting areas, NO starting areas, no descriptions, no clues… any number of things to make the box extremely hard to find.
- Postals (or PLBs)
- Boxes that are made just like traditional letterboxes, but instead of being planted in the wild, they are sent via postal mail to the people on signup lists for the box, or around a "ring" of people in a postal ring, which is usually focused on a theme of some sort. Postals are also very often very well designed and organized, as well as ornate. Since the box is very unlikely to be stolen, go missing, or be damaged, creators of PLBs tend to get quite creative.
- Personal Travelers
- Much like a traditional box, but instead of being planted, the box is kept with the creator at all times, in case of a run-in with another boxer on the trails or at a gathering-this box is usually only attainable if the other letterboxer knows the password or passphrase… which is sometimes cryptic, sometimes straightforward, sometimes almost non-existent, and sometimes simply silly, for example: Celtic Quinn's PT "The Strawberry Prince", or Craftymouse's "The Penguin Flies At Midnight" for silly, or Music Woman's first PT for a cryptic one.
- Hitchhiker Hostels
- This is a traditional letterbox with special qualities. Namely, it is a 'hostel' for hitchhikers, as well...specially designated to hold multiple hitchhikers at one time. Normally, there is at least one or two hitchhikers in the box at all times, and any letterboxer coming to take a hitchhiker out is required to leave a new one in it's place. These Hitchhiker Hostels have their own stamp and logbook, just like a traditional letterbox, and the hitchhikers that travel within them are stamped and recorded within the logbook, often with the dates of being added to the Hostel (in order to make it easier to move the older hitchhikers out), and hopefully with a date that says when they are removed.
Letterboxers also organize events for their favorite hobby — usually called gatherings or meets, these events are usually at parks or places with enough space for a large group of letterboxers to meet up and do exchanges (exchanging of personal stamps and/or personal travelers), as well as talk, discuss box ideas, etc… at big gatherings, boxes are often created or donated to be planted nearby the gathering specifically for the gathering itself. Thereby, the attendees not only get a chance to get exchanges, but boxes, too.
Find counts or PFX counts are organized as thus… P stands for plants, boxes you've made and placed yourself. F stands for finds, other boxes that you've found in the wild. X stands for exchanges, and is the number of exchanges you have.
Other more serious boxers list individual types of boxes in their PFX counts (eg: P12 F76 X45 E4 HH21 V4 would mean 12 plants, 76 finds, 45 exchanges, 4 events or event stamps, 21 hitchhikers, and 4 virtuals), but most just mush them together into one single PFX count, or don't bother to count them seriously at all.
See also
Further reading
- Anne Swinscow has written several popular guide books on Dartmoor Letterboxing, e.g. Dartmoor Letterboxes ISBN 0950911429
- The Letterboxer's Companion by Randy Hall was published in 2003 and focuses on letterboxing in North America; ISBN 0762727942.