Stamp of approval: The World's Smallest Post Service meets the country's once-smallest post office

By C.J. Hirschfield

She runs "The World’s Smallest Post Service." I run a park that contains what used to be the country’s smallest post office. We’re both in Oakland. Clearly, our paths were destined to cross, and they did last week. What may come of our meeting might just get more kids writing letters — real, live letters that generate love and joy — and that would be a good thing on many levels, we both believe.

That penny proves that Lea's tiny mail really is quite small!

Artrepeneur Lea Redmond says she started the World's Smallest Post Service (WSPS) on a whim back in 2008, locating it out on the corner of Sweet Adeline’s Bakeshop in Oakland. Dressed in a postal uniform she made herself, she transcribed tiny letters for passers-by seated by her miniature wooden rolltop desk. People loved it. It eventually became so popular that she started a website offering a handful of tiny mail items to be shipped inside slightly-larger boxes so they don’t get lost. To date, her tiny mail has charmed tens of thousands of both senders and receivers. 

Lea grew up in Seal Beach, California, and spent much of her time as a kid at The Desk Drawer, a local stationery store where she was delighted by the stickers and paper. She was always into letter writing, which she says was normal to her as a kid, but now, with smartphones and emails, “tangible letters seem all the more meaningful to both the writer and the receiver.” She believes that people want to slow down, to reflect, and to appreciate each other. “Tiny mail offers one small way to do just that,” she says.

Lea also created a “Letters To My:” series of charming interactive books (Letters to my Future Self, Letters to my Grandchildren, Letters to my Baby) which was picked up by Oprah as one of her favorite things. The resulting financial success, Lea says, “is why as an artist I didn’t have to leave the Bay Area.”

With the Tiny Mail Stationery Kit, you can make your own tiny letters and packages. It's like the DIY home version of the World’s Smallest Post Service.

What kinds of tiny letters do people send? Love letters, birthday greetings, notes from the tooth fairy, wedding invites, letters from fairies, mice and Santa’s elves—even wedding proposals. And what do people write? “They are so heartfelt and creative,” Lea says. To send tiny mail, you type out the info for your custom tiny letters and packages through the company website, add real-world shipping addresses, review your order, and go through checkout. What then? You can either think of a magic wand turning it into a tiny version, or you could imagine a careful process involving a fancy laser printer, very steady hands, and excellent craft skills. Of course, your mail is sent with a magnifying glass so your recipient can actually read it…

Lea’s business, run by herself and three part-time helpers, also provides tiny letter kits, as well as tiny packages, that can include items like bouncy balls, compasses, and tiny flower arrangements.

Lea visiting the antique postal counter that she found on Craigslist.

And thanks to a recent -- and fully realized -- crowdfunding campaign, Lea will soon be opening a brick-and-mortar studio/workspace/storefront on 15th and Webster in Oakland where folks can buy and send tiny mail, even handcrafting their own. She has purchased a beautiful antique oak post office counter to add to the experience.

“We want to make a place, a magical coordinate on the globe where people can count on wonder and kindness,” is how she describes her vision. 

In 1954, young "Queen" Connie Quackenbush mailed the first letter from Children's Fairyland's on-site post office, the smallest one in the U.S. at the time.

When Lea learned that Children’s Fairyland boasts what used to be the smallest (“child-sized”) post office in the U.S., she knew we had to connect. Opened in 1954, the post office operated for 21 years with a hand-cranked cancel machine that printed “Fairyland Station, Oakland, California 94612,” and a real, live postal employee. Inside the fanciful domed building are whimsical paintings of letters addressed to animals, and other inhabitants of the park. There used to be both a model airplane and a mini train that circled the interior dome of the structure. Kids were encouraged to write and post letters that they created on little desks outside.

Decommissioned in 1976 by the federal government due to budget cuts, the building is now used on weekends for arts and crafts activities.

But, what if…?

Lea and I brainstormed about how we could bring back the post office on select weekends. Imagine how fun it will be for kids and their adults to work together to write (or draw) a letter with tools, rubber stamps, stickers and envelopes, and imagine how special it will be for friends or family members to receive!

Is this town big enough for two tiny post offices? We sure think so. Because you just can’t have enough whimsy, love, and joy in the world.

You can check out all of the offerings of Lea’s World’s Smallest Post Service here: https://www.leafcutterdesigns.com/tiny-mail

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C.J. Hirschfield has served for 17 years as executive director of Children’s Fairyland, where she is charged with the overall operation of the nation’s oldest storybook theme park.

Transgender kindergarten teacher to curious students: "I’m not a girl and I’m not a boy, but I’m both"

By C.J. Hirschfield

Berkeley kindergarten teacher Lourdes Rivas is used to answering all sorts of questions from their endlessly curious kids in the classroom. But early on in their five years of teaching, one question kept coming up: Are you a girl or a boy?

Lourdes reading to a class of second graders at Rosa Parks Elementary in Berkeley, where they were invited to do an author talk.

Lourdes found themself telling and retelling their story of being transgender to their students every year, explaining why they use non-binary pronouns, why they say they’re not a girl and not a boy, but both -- or how is this even possible? So, Lourdes wrote it out one day and decided to pursue its fruition into a full-on children’s book.

“I needed books that represented who I was, and I wasn’t finding any,” says Lourdes. The path to creating their new bilingual (English and Spanish) book, “They Call Me Mix” was not an easy one. But, we’re happy to report that Lourdes and their book will be featured at Fairyland on May 18 as part of our annual Turn the Page! children’s book author and illustrator event. Geared towards five to seven year olds, the book explores what it means to be a transgender person of color. Lourdes notes that, while there are many young adult literature books that center on transgender and gender nonconforming characters, very few options exist for younger readers.

 

Author/educator Lourdes Rivas will be featured at Fairyland’s upcoming children’s authors and illustrators event, with their new book “They Call Me Mix.”

When Lourdes first decided they wanted to write the book, they reached out to the San Francisco-based Online School of Free Minds, which offers courses and programs that “offer a holistic approach to creating & publishing children's books as well as aid in expanding the mind and reclaiming our creative, intuitive, cooperative human nature.” But taking a course load while teaching full-time was daunting at best. And this was five years ago—Lourdes’ very first year as a teacher. It was too hard to keep up with the homework, so the book went on hiatus as Sylvia Mendez Elementary School remained their focus. Years later, Lourdes went back and completed their course online; the book was guided by the curriculum. The school’s founders, Maya Gonzalez and Matthew Smith became mentors as the book came together.

Even before identifying an illustrator, Lourdes knew they had to begin the process of fundraising; money that would be used for writing, editing, translating, illustrating, designing, obtaining an ISBN number, publishing, distributing, and shipping. “Kickstarter was exciting, but scary,” they recall. “I had to step out of my comfort zone to make an on-camera pitch—I was really nervous on the first thirty takes…” They say they then felt courage and love, and this evidently resonated with the many funders—so many that the financial goal of $10,500 was exceeded by $2,000.

Lourdes’ search for an illustrator ended on the dance floor, where they encountered Breena Nuñez, a working cartoonist, musician, and youth arts educator, whose work Lourdes had admired on Instagram. Breena was on board, but another pause occurred as the illustrator completed an MFA program.

Lourdes also learned how long it takes to do the layout. “The alignment of images and text was super meticulous,” they say. “It was a breeze from there.”

“They Call Me Mix” is a new children’s book that explores what it means to be a transgender person of color.

Finally, on January 19, a book launch party was held in the Fruitvale District, with about a hundred people present to celebrate. Visits to Seattle and Tacoma to do readings then followed.

And on May 18: Fairyland’s children’s book festival. Lourdes has attended the event for the last three years with their two nieces, but not as an author. A collector of children’s books, they see them as powerful tools. “When I read it to my kindergarten class kids and they say ‘That’s you in the book!,’ it’s the most engaging I’ve ever seen them,” Lourdes says.

They are “thrilled” to be a featured author this time around, where their own book will be available for sale and signing. “I’m excited to meet kids, parents and educators,” they say. “I’m such a fan of the event!”

And we’re sure that Lourdes will find their own fans this time around.

Turn the Page! will be held at Children’s Fairyland on Saturday, May 18 from 10-4; adults will need to be accompanied by a child to attend.

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C.J. Hirschfield has served for 17 years as executive director of Children’s Fairyland, where she is charged with the overall operation of the nation’s oldest storybook theme park.

Dragon Slide Pioneer: How one boy got to test drive it first

by C.J. Hirschfield

A trip down Children’s Fairyland’s 32 feet high Dragon Slide has been an exciting rite of passage for millions of Bay Area kids for over half a century. You need to be at least four years old to go down, and it’s fast and fun.

Then-Oakland Park Commissioner Frank Ogawa is one of the first to go down Fairyland’s Dragon Slide when it opened in 1963. No adult is currently allowed to use the kids-only attraction.

I recently received an email from a man who claims to be the first kid to ever test drive the slide — even before it was installed at the park. It didn’t go well, but let’s start at the beginning. 

In 1962, then-five-year-old Sil Krevocheza loved to spend time with his dad at his workplace, Macri Iron Works on Eighth Street in West Oakland. Originally from Russia, Silvester Krevocheza was forcibly conscripted by the Germans in WWII, later escaping to fight for the British. After the war, he met his wife and worked in London as a blacksmith. Sponsored by a local couple, he and his family immigrated to Oakland in 1957, where he joined Macri as an ironworker. Macri may be better known for fabricating the “Mid-Century Monster” sculpture that is currently being refurbished on the beach at Lake Merritt, but in 1962, they were hired to work on the Happy Dragon Slide.

William Everritt’s 1962 designs for Children’s Fairyland’s 32 feet high Dragon Slide.

The slide was underwritten by the Shoong Foundation, both to honor Joe Shoong, creator of the National Dollar Stores, and to celebrate Chinese heritage and the beauty and grace of Chinese folklore. It was the last, and greatest, set designed by William Russell Everritt, who is responsible for most of the earliest park sets. The only way to access the tall slide is by way of a floating pathway past a fierce guardian dragon — in whose mouth kids go for a giant slide down. R.H. Cooley was chosen as structural engineer, and Macri for steel fabrication. Thirteen tons of cement and many tons of steel were used for this treetop-height marvel.

Young Sil got to see the steel frame come together, up-close. “I would jump out of our Hudson (automobile) and run into the shop to see what was going on,” he recalls. “It was one of the most exciting things in the world, watching this thing being built.”

Sil's vintage home photos of the Dragon Slide in progress.

His father would show him the drawings, and demonstrate how things were going to come together. At one point they decided to hoist up and test drive the slide at the shop, tacking it together on a flatbed truck, prior to the plaster being applied. Young Sil happily volunteered to be the first to slide down. Unfortunately, a rivet had not been removed, and Sil soon required 18 stitches.

Did this setback change Sil’s love of the slide and/or deter him from future rides? “Heck, no, I wasn’t scared,” he says. The stitches came out in a week, and were forgotten.

Once the slide had been moved to Fairyland and his dad was doing the installation, he and his siblings “were always there. Watching him weld in the park was the bees’ knees,” he says.

“Back then, things were so simple,” he recalls. “Everybody we knew went there.”

Sil also loved the puppet shows, and our Magic Keys. None of his four grandkids have ever visited the park (Sil was last here with his four kids in the eighties), but he intends to gather them all together here this summer, and he’ll be sure to tell the story about how their great-grandfather built an Oakland icon.

“My dad didn’t leave the best mark on this earth,” says Sil, referring to the tough life of his immigrant father. “The best things he left were his kids and the Dragon Slide.”

We can’t wait to welcome Sil and family back to “his” magnificent slide.

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C.J. Hirschfield has served for 17 years as executive director of Children’s Fairyland, where she is charged with the overall operation of the nation’s oldest storybook theme park.

Act of God Strands Bunny

By C.J. Hirschfield

For the last decade, Twilight the purple bunny has charmed little ones at Children Fairyland’s Bunny Weekend with his one floppy ear, and big smile. But not this year.

“It took an act of God to keep me away,” says a deeply disappointed Jimmy Chin, the man who created, and wears, the costume. Because of horrible storms in the Southeast, Jimmy’s flight home from Florida was cancelled, along with 25 other flights out of Fort Lauderdale that day. He could not get a flight until late Easter Sunday, when all six of his fellow Critters By the Bay costumed characters will have already gone home after performing at the park all weekend.

Critters By the Bay at Fairyland's 2018 Bunny Weekend. image via

The Critters have been part of the Fairyland family since 2004, performing at our various themed holiday events, and always creating an air of excitement and whimsy. Kids love them, and photos taken with Critters create family memories that are cherished.

Formed in 1997, the Critters’ website describes them as “part hobby, part business, part true calling.” They’ve appeared at a wide variety of venues, including parades, ball games, corporate parties, zoos, theme parks, racetracks, grand openings, trade shows, children's hospitals, and even as background extras in a few TV shows (including a segment of Parenthood, filmed at Fairyland).

Jimmy first performed at Fairyland fifteen years ago at the opening of our Old West Junction, playing Yippee Coyote, the most popular of the 18 costume suits that he has created. The strangest? “That would probably be Blip, who I describe as a little lost alien, or a short-tailed space mouse,” he explains.  His Walden the reindeer is always a hit during our holiday festivities.

As a youngster, Jimmy says he was a shy kid who loved cartoons. “Creating and wearing costume characters seemed like a fun way to express myself,” he recalls. “Anonymity gives you courage.”

Costumer/mascot Jimmy Chin has performed at Children’s Fairyland for 15 years.

Jimmy’s day job is as a computer consultant in Silicon Valley, but he has also been Bugs Bunny and Wile E. Coyote at Six Flags, Rikter the Cyberdog, the husky mascot of the San Jose Earthquakes, and the mascot performer for the now-defunct Cyber Rays professional women’s soccer team.

Jimmy built Twilight the purple bunny for an Easter party, and the color and name were inspired by that special time of day when colors and stars inspire. Twilight’s head is made of upholstery foam (“Clean, not used,” Jimmy points out). Plastic struts were used for the ears, and patterned fur is laid over the foam. Trimming, sewing, gluing—all are part of the creative process.

Jimmy Chin, in his popular Twilight the bunny costume, at Fairyland.

But the costume isn’t everything. I’ve observed Jimmy and other Critters as they use techniques to put nervous kids at ease; lowering themselves to kid level, and earning their trust. “Kids have a safety bubble,” Jimmy says. “When you get their trust, the bubble shrinks.”

Jimmy says that his heart sank when he realized he couldn’t be with us this year. “Fairyland is such a magical place, and it’s an amazing feeling for me to perform there,” he says.

This would have been Jimmy’s eleventh Bunny Weekend, and was proud of the fact that he’s never skipped one.

“I’m gonna miss you,” he told me on a phone call from Florida.

We’re gonna miss you, too, Jimmy, but we look forward to seeing one of your many faces at the park real soon.

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C.J. Hirschfield has served for 17 years as executive director of Children’s Fairyland, where she is charged with the overall operation of the nation’s oldest storybook theme park.

Rx: Print Books

This month, a study entitled “Differences in Parent-Toddler Interactions With Electronic Versus Print Books” was published in the journal Pediatrics. Its conclusion? “Parents and toddlers verbalized less with electronic books, and collaboration was lower, and that pediatricians may wish to continue promoting shared reading of print books, particularly for toddlers and younger children.”

At Toddler Storytime, held every Friday at Fairyland, librarian-trained storytellers read aloud and lead families in song and movement.

Also this month, my city of Oakland -- thanks to the passage of a recent bond measure -- announced that it will extend its operating hours for all public library branches. I am overjoyed—we can now visit libraries six days a week, and on two evenings.

I connect these two events in my mind, especially as someone whose job has me observing toddlers every day. The academic study reinforces what many of us have intuitively believed, that for very young kids, real books have advantages over electronic books or tablets.

Foremost in my mind is the fact that toddlers can access books without help, or electric power-- and the library is a great place for them to explore books that look, feel and are illustrated differently. They can have the autonomy to browse, and pick out books that interest them, that can then be read to them.

At home, whether it’s library books or others, kids can have access to a pile of books whenever they wish to engage, or re-engage. They can show you want they want to read. Toddlers are typically locked out of tablets, so can’t get to books without help.

At Fairyland, Alice’s Reading Room is a cozy space to discover new books and old favorites.

And once toddlers learn the words or plotline of a favorite book you’ve read them, they’ll sit and “read” it to themselves (and you must not laugh). Can’t do this with a tablet. They can skip ahead; go back—what a powerful feeling! A love of reading often flows from here.

There are many other reasons why reading real books to toddlers is a good thing. But the tactility of real books and the opportunity they provide for toddlers to make their own choices about what—and when-- they want to explore, really resonate with me. And the look of toddlers when they see a row of books at the library that they can choose from? Priceless.

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C.J. Hirschfield has served for 17 years as executive director of Children’s Fairyland, where she is charged with the overall operation of the nation’s oldest storybook theme park.

Regifting From the Heart: Family Donates Son's Birthday Presents

By C.J. Hirschfield

Every once in a while, I need to stop and remind myself how much good there is in the world. A special Fairyland birthday party gave me a delightful opportunity to do just that last week.

Fairyland is known for making magical memories: 197 birthday parties were held at the park in 2018. Now, in 2019, it’s only April and we’ve already booked about 50 parties. Last week heralded the official opening of our catered birthday party season, which lasts all the way into October. We’re ready—with lots of helium, goodie bags, and sparkly tablecloths.

Children love to celebrate their birthday at Children's Fairyland!

One of our longtime member families held a party on our opening weekend for their turning two-year-old son. They told their guests that any gifts that were brought for the birthday boy would be donated to a local charity. This was a new one to us—what a lovely gesture to acknowledge and support those who have less than us.

After the festivities were over, the family asked us to suggest a worthy organization serving children that could receive the toys.

We immediately thought of Building Futures, who’ve been partners of ours for two years as part of our homeless family initiative program.

Their mission? “To build communities with underserved women and children, where they are safely and supportively housed, free from homelessness and domestic violence.” For over 30 years, they’ve operated programs and services throughout Alameda County to help achieve this mission. Impressively, their residential programs include 127 housing units in total.

Funded by grants, we began offering park passes to them in 2017 for families who are staying in their three housing sites. When we told them about the toys, they couldn’t have been happier, or more appreciative.

The Monday after the party, the Building Futures’ caseworker came to collect the 30+ unwrapped toys for both boys and girls, catering to a variety of ages. Corinna Rezzelle, our program director and birthday party queen, helped transport the four huge Ikea bags to the car, in the rain. The next day, she received an email from the caseworker saying how happy the children were, and that they’d been able to use one gift as a birthday present that same day. “It made my heart just burst,” says Corinna. “It really touched me.”

I have probably witnessed literally millions of parents in action at Fairyland over my 17-year tenure at the park. The main thing I’ve learned is the critical importance of parents modeling good behavior, and the positive impact it has on kids.

And the parents who regifted their two-year-old birthday boy’s presents? That’s what I’m talkin’ about.

Ready to book a birthday party at Fairyland? Great! We host fully-catered parties April through October. Head over to our website to learn more and to secure your date.
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C.J. Hirschfield has served for 17 years as executive director of Children’s Fairyland, where she is charged with the overall operation of the nation’s oldest storybook theme park.

Felicity Hesed Is a Star (Literally) in Fairyland's New Show for Young Children

By C.J. Hirschfield

Felicity Hesed is special. Her idea of a good time is performing complex acts on a trapeze while bantering with an audience. “It is unusual,” she admits.

Felicity is a seasoned clown, aerialist and actor—and a co-star of Children’s Fairyland’s newest Theatre for the Very Young (TVY) production of “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star,” running April 6 to May 26 at the park. 

Felicity Hesed, right, with Valerie Compton and a star-nibbling sheep in "Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"