The Flower Letters

What's in the box: Two envelopes a month with character letters plus period ephemera such as postcards, telegrams, train tickets, coded messages, puzzles, crafts and recipes.

The Flower Letters sends a year-long story by mail. Each month two envelopes arrive, and you follow along through letters written by the characters. Seven original stories are on offer, set during the American Revolution, World War II, the Regency, the Gilded Age, the 1910s, the Victorian West, and one fantasy world. If you can't decide, a story quiz on the site will steer you toward one. The envelopes hold more than letters. A story might include an invitation to a ball, a newspaper report about it, and a letter from a second guest who saw it differently, so you put the events together from several sources. You can pay monthly or prepay, and the start date can be set so the first letter shows up in time for a birthday or holiday. An optional keepsake tin is available for storing the collection. Most mail after the first letter goes out by regular post, so if you need something quickly, tracked shipping costs extra. This is a slow subscription by design: one story, revealed bit by bit over a full year. It suits people who enjoy anticipation and paper mail. It is less suited to anyone who wants to write back, because it is a reading experience and not a pen pal exchange.