I live in Chicago and I’ve been corresponding with a penpal in Singapore for quite some time now. I’d like to make a scrapbook that represents the USA and send it to her for Christmas. I’d appreciate any input from the clever folks on the SDMB. Some things I thought of are:
Picture postcards
postage stamps
money: penny - dollar
leaves from various native trees
beer bottle labels
a page from a local newpaper
tourist brochures (Sears Tower, Navy Pier, etc.)
maps
I once had a penpal who was interested in the advertising business, and she would have me send her magazine ads. (Don’t know if she stole the ideas…;))
Let’s see:
Pages from catalogs (geared to her interests–clothes? home decor? cosmetics?)
Greeting cards (particularly for holidays she would be unfamiliar with)
Gift wrap samples
Stickers/Sheets of stationery
House plans (sometimes found in decorating magazines)
Paper dolls (maybe holiday costume, movie star themes, repos of vintage ones)
Candy wrappers/food can labels (oh, and grocery shopping receipts!)
Paper doilies, especially holiday-related, like pink valentines
And I don’t know how I forgot–you will be sending selected bits of The Reader, won’t you? I mean, Cecil’s column of course, and News of the Weird, and Savage Love has quite a doozy this week. Can’t have her thinking America is all LOVE stamps and Christmas cards…
Oh yes the Reader is definitely an important piece of Chicago culture. Maybe the music listings and of course the Straight Dope but I better hold back the Savage Love column. I get a kick out of it every week but it’s just a little too much kinkiness for a penpal. (At least this one. )
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