Letters From The Lineage Season 1

It is October 1949. Celestine Fontenot, twenty years old and studying economics at Howard University, sits down to write her sister a letter.

Her sister Odette is back home in New Orleans, running the family seamstress shop on Derbigny Street. She has been waiting.

Letters from the Lineage is a three month snail mail subscription series from Bifties Gifts. Six original historical fiction letters between two Black sisters, mailed directly to your door every two weeks, beginning August 2026.

Each letter is folded and sealed inside a cream A7 envelope bearing the period return address of whichever sister is writing. Celly writes from Washington DC. Odette writes from New Orleans. You receive their story one letter at a time, the way stories were meant to arrive.

WHAT ARRIVES AT YOUR DOOR WITH EVERY MAILING

The letter, printed on cream paper and folded just as Celly or Odette would have sent it.

A historical ephemera card featuring a real fact from the world the sisters are living in, printed front and back.

A bookmark or stickers designed in partnership with a featured Black owned stationery brand, for your current read.

Founding subscribers also receive a period mystery gift tucked inside Letter 3. It connects directly to a moment in the story. You will understand exactly why it is there when you get there.

THE STORY

Celly is ambitious and homesick and trying to figure out what it means to leave. Odette is sharp and tender and sitting on something she has never said out loud. Across three months and six letters they will say to each other what they should have been saying all along.

"The leaves on Georgia Avenue have gone gold and copper this week, and I keep thinking you would love them. You always said autumn back home smelled like sweet olive and woodsmoke. Up here it smells like ambition, which I mean as the finest compliment."
Celestine Fontenot, writing to her sister Odette  ·  Howard University, October 1949

"I am made of more than this shop. I have always known it. I just needed somebody who loved me enough to slow down and really see me."
Odette Fontenot, writing to her sister Celly  ·  New Orleans, December 1949

SEASON 1 DETAILS

Six letters mailed over three months, beginning mid-August 2026

One letter every two weeks, alternating between Celly and Odette

Each letter includes a response prompt and access to the private subscriber community

SHIPPING AND FULFILLMENT

Purchase your Season 1 subscription once. No recurring charges. All six letters are included in your single payment.

Letters mail every two weeks beginning mid-August 2026 via USPS First Class Mail. Delivery typically takes three to five business days.

You will receive a welcome email within 24 hours of purchase with your subscriber community link and your Season 1 mailing schedule.

If your address changes during the season please email hello@bifties.com before your next scheduled mailing date.

Domestic US shipping only for Season 1.

Every mailing is curated by Bifties Gifts in partnership with Black owned brands, because every dollar spent should be a vote with your wallet.

Bifties Gifts builds curated gift boxes, allowing you to vote with your wallet for HR teams, DEI managers, office managers, and professionals who want to vote with their wallet for employee appreciation, onboarding, client gifting, and special occasions.

Letters from the Lineage is an original work of fiction. All characters, including Celestine and Odette Fontenot, are the exclusive creative property of Bifties Gifts LLC. Howard University and all historical locations referenced are real places used in a fictional context.