Snail Mail My Email

What's in the box: No box is shipped; you get one free handwritten letter, based on your email of up to 100 words, mailed to a recipient you choose with one optional extra such as a doodle or perfume spray.

Snail Mail My Email is not a subscription box in the usual sense. It is a free collaborative art project created by Ivan Cash, in which volunteers handwrite strangers' emails and mail them as physical letters to the intended recipients. You type a message of up to 100 words, include the recipient's mailing address, and may request one extra touch such as a doodle, a flower petal, a spray of perfume, a lipstick kiss or a coffee stain. The site says its 2011 run involved 234 volunteers sending 10,457 letters to over 70 countries, and that this work inspired a book.

The catch is timing. Requests are accepted only during a one week window, and the site still lists Nov. 12-18 and a 2012 team, so it is unclear whether a current run is planned. There is no recurring delivery, and you receive nothing yourself unless someone writes to you. The privacy notice is blunt: your message and the recipient's address pass through volunteers around the world, the organizers accept no responsibility for misuse, and by sending a request you give them all rights to the content. Only one request per person is allowed.

As a charming, free way to surprise someone with a handwritten note, the idea is lovely. As something to subscribe to, it does not fit.