Mrs. John L. Strong

Nowadays, you’re more likely to shoot an e-mail than handwrite a letter, but Mrs. John L. Strong’s stationery store exalts good old pen-and-paper musings. The luxury stationer has catered to customers’ whims with its bespoke services (starting at $1,000) since 1929, but this retail space offers a ready-to-write collection ($40–$175) that guarantees a personalized feel, sans the high price that comes with customization. The petite shop packs plenty of pomp and circumstance into 100 square feet, with marble floors, brocade-printed walls and a candelabra chandelier. All of the stationery is handmade and employs techniques like engraving, colored dies and hand-bordering, which decorates the label’s signature vanilla paper stock. Charming motifs embellish card sets, such as illustrated elephants (20 for $150) and stamped clovers (five for $60). There are also gifts and accessories to peruse, including miniature desk calendars ($80) and linen-bound journals ($125) designed for planning gatherings or keeping recipes