Abe's Penny 1.2.1 featuring Melanie Flood and Sam Witt

A hopeless lover of letters and quaint chapbooks delivered by my romantic vision of a postman, I have secretly lost faith in the survival of print and snail mail. But my recent discovery of Abe’s Penny, a weekly art and literary micro-magazine printed in postcard format, has revived my hope. Abe’s Penny is a new and refreshing addition to this clonal world of publishing. Barely one year old, it has already garnered great excitement from artists, mail enthusiasts, and magazine lovers. Not to mention, their recent appearance in the New Art Dealers Alliance (NADA) fair at Art Basel was well received, with many attendees finding the magazine’s concise image and text format a unique perspective. This was exactly the intention of Anna and Tess Knoebel, the co-founders of Abe’s Penny, when they started the weekly publication. “We saw a challenge in adding more art and writing to an overstimulated and harried world,” the sisters explained, “so we knew we wanted to keep it short and accessible.”

Tess reminisced the act of getting mail in the country: “I like to think that when you get your copy of Abe’s Penny in the mail, you can finish reading it by the time you get to your front door.” For a magazine, I suppose it’s as fast as it gets. The single-page delivery eliminates leaves of mediocrity common in most magazines. Abe’s Penny, therefore, gives us the curated essentials. In this information-loaded world, its condensed style is a relief for readers. While you may find other magazines easy to dispose, these postcards, like pieces of art in the mail, are collectibles.

I sat down with the ethereal looking Knoebel sisters over a cup of coffee last week to learn more about their venture. Their chosen moniker, Abe’s Penny, alludes to the essence of the publication.  “If you think about it,” explained older sister, Anna, “the penny is the smallest denomination there is. And the postcard is the smallest possible publication.” The idea of Abe’s Penny, as it turns out, was born five years ago over a car ride home for Thanksgiving. But it was only this March that the sisters sent off the first cards. “We wanted to gain more experience in our careers before we started Abe’s Penny,” reasoned Anna. She spent those five years in publishing, most notably as managing editor of the art-focused zingmagazine. Tess, on the other hand, studied art history and worked as a fashion designer.

Abe's Penny 1.8 featuring Cornelia Hediger and Adam Wade

But art is not only their profession, it’s in their blood. Growing up with artist parents in an amusement park in Pennsylvania and the culturally rich New York City, it is no wonder they have such a multi-dimensional taste in art and literature. The sisters exuded a modern, sophisticated but down-to-earth and lighthearted quality that, I suspect, comes from their interestingly unique upbringing.  And it shows in their work.

Each Abe’s Penny card is delivered weekly and, over the course of a month, you experience a visual and textual story unfold. Like matchmakers, Anna and Tess curate the magazine by pairing up a new artist and writer for each issue, which contains four serials. So, it’s not only interesting to see parts of a story progress each week, but you also witness the collaborative relationship between the two artists. Past contributors include a diverse group of recognized talents in photography and various literary forms such as poetry and screenwriting.

There’s something about the postcard format that makes each image and piece of writing much more moving and personal. The fact that the addresses on the cards are hand-written intensifies its personal charm.

When I met the sisters last week, I had mentioned that Abe’s Penny would make a perfect holiday present. I, myself, had been waiting for someone to get the hint. This is only the beginning for the Knoebel sisters. While other exciting things are in their horizon—Anna is soon expecting a little baby girl and Tess her own fashion line—the sisters are focused to make Abe’s Penny even bigger (figuratively, of course). In the works is a kiddie version of Abe’s Penny for younger art and literary lovers called Abe’s Peanut.

Abe’s Penny can be subscribed through their website.