July 15, 2002

Tiny and New

Tiny Envelopes

You know when you’ve just written a tiny letter with your tiny pen and you can’t find anything to put it in?

That’s so frustrating.

Thank goodness, then, for tinyenvelope.com. Begun mere weeks ago, the Website is devoted exclusively to selling handmade tiny envelopes. And we mean exclusively. (“Need a tiny envelope? We have plenty. Want something else? Can’t help you.”) Run by Emily Paramore and Dave Coustan of Boston, the site has four designs available at any given time. We like the Linus, but if you can’t find one that appeals, you may opt to Roll Your Own. Send in a four-by-five-inch piece of paper, and they’ll custom make a tiny envelope for you.

Perhaps not surprisingly, Emily and Dave have day jobs. But they do hope to retire someday, as they say, “on the backs of tiny envelopes. Literally.” A pipe dream? Maybe. But these are the same people who claim that their Hindi Dictionary envelopes (made from the pages of said book) “promote multiculturalism and religious tolerance.” In other words, they really believe in their product.

We think that earns them the right to their tiny piece of the American Dream. Don’t you?

Available online at tinyenvelope.com.