Making a telegram from 1920s Peru
Telegrams are common paper props for my 1920s Call of Cthukhu campaign. Here I show a prop telegram from Peru in the 1920s.
I do not aim for historical accuracy for such props. For me, a paper prop must be believable, interesting, and invoke the mood of the era the campaign takes place in.
This prop is on the more elaborate end for a telegram, compared to just printing a telegram on a single sheet of paper, because it involves an envelope, a stamp, postmark stamps, and handwriting.
The telegram comes in its own envelope:
The envelope was printed with my Epson inkjet on pastel yellow paper, cut out with scissors, and glued together.
The stamp was printed with my Epson inkjet, cut out with special scissors, and glued on.
Finally, three different postmark stamps were applied:
The telegram was printed with my Epson inkjet on the same pastel yellow paper as the envelope. The Lima and date stamps were used again to mark the station and date of reception. Finally, I added some handwriting, the number of words and the signature of the telegraph operator.
Here are the various tools I used:
Both the envelope and the telegram were designed in Open Office.
The font is 'HPLHS Telegram' from The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society.
I do not aim for historical accuracy for such props. For me, a paper prop must be believable, interesting, and invoke the mood of the era the campaign takes place in.
This prop is on the more elaborate end for a telegram, compared to just printing a telegram on a single sheet of paper, because it involves an envelope, a stamp, postmark stamps, and handwriting.
The telegram comes in its own envelope:
The envelope was printed with my Epson inkjet on pastel yellow paper, cut out with scissors, and glued together.
The stamp was printed with my Epson inkjet, cut out with special scissors, and glued on.
Finally, three different postmark stamps were applied:
- The Lima telegram office stamp, which I designed & 3d printed.
- The wavy cancellation
stamp, bought from emadam.
- The date stamp, also bought on eBay.
The telegram was printed with my Epson inkjet on the same pastel yellow paper as the envelope. The Lima and date stamps were used again to mark the station and date of reception. Finally, I added some handwriting, the number of words and the signature of the telegraph operator.Here are the various tools I used:
Both the envelope and the telegram were designed in Open Office.
The font is 'HPLHS Telegram' from The H. P. Lovecraft Historical Society.