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Here are the main emails from the beginning of the Baker's Dozen idea.
The Baker's Dozen has become a very successful way for the IMCAC to get a sample of what's going out in the collage community and for artists to share examples of work among each other. If you would like to know how the exchange go started read the following exchange of emails from the  COLLAGE email group which was started by Cecil Touchon on Dec 18, 1998 as a way for collage artists to stay in touch and interact with the Museum.

Cecil Touchon
Date: Mon Jan 4, 1999 9:37pm
Subject: collage swap
Greetings all, I have been checking out some of the websites regarding
stamping, mail art etc. and wondering if anyone would be interested in
starting this idea among us collage artists. Perhaps we could use the
same kind of structure some of you are familiar with in the stamp swaps.
I think it would be quite fasinating to exchange post card sized
collages. I would like to end up with a collection for the Collage
Museum which would also be scanned and added to the Collage Museum's
website. Any ideas on this subject? I personally have never done any
mail art type projects but have wanted to plug into this idea for some
time and this could be a wonderful tradition for the Collage Listserv.

From: Dale Copeland <dale@xxxx.xx.xxx
Date: Mon Jan 4, 1999 11:50pm
Subject: Re: collage swap

Great idea Cecil. I used to make heaps of collage postcards - mostly
to advertise my exhibitions but also as greetings, to advise of artgroup
meetings, all of that. I took photos of the best of them, and they fill
a big book. I'd welcome the incentive to start again - it's a fun
medium. Pity the postage costs so much from down here in the South
Pacific.
Dale

From: Kim Nickens <nickinpa@xxx.xxxx
Date: Tue Jan 5, 1999 10:25pm
Subject: Re: Collage Swap

Cecil and all,
I subscribe to the digest version of the list so forgive me
if this is something that has already been discussed.

You can sponsor a mail art call as an alternative to an
exchange. As the call sponsor, you would specify a
theme (or not), a deadline and a size or media limitation
(if any). Most mail artists responding to the call would
expect to get some form of documentation and display on
your web site would be great. Work could also been
scanned in and submitted electronically.

Dennis Jordan, who is a printmaker and collage artist (among
other things) who does incredible work, sponsored a few of these
last year and displayed the submitted works on his web site.
One thing about mail art is that there is no judge and no jury. All
was displayed. I'm not sure if Dennis is on this list or not, but
if he is, I'm sure that he can offer some suggestions on how to
proceed and get the message out there. Dennis has also done
some issues of artistamps and would be a resource for that as
well.

His site is:
http://www.telisphere.com/~djordan/

There are a lot of sites
that would be willing to list such a call and there is also a publication
called "Umbrella" magazine that is produced by Judith Hoffberg.
The key for doing something like that is to allow enough time until
the deadline for the artists to submit their work.

To give you an idea of what kind of information Judith lists, she
does have a partial edition of her magazine online through the
book arts site.

The link is below:
http://www.colophon.com/umbrella/index.html

I'd also like to thank Michelle for her review of the
Cornell/Duchamp exhibit. It was the next best thing to
being there.

Take care,

Kim

From: Cecil Touchon <touchon@xxxxxxx.xxxx
Date: Wed Jan 6, 1999 11:26am
Subject: Re: Collage Swap

ok so give me a few days to put a webpage together with all of the
relevant details. In the meantime. Please tell me how many works you are
willing to participate with (let's say in the next 30-45 days). It
should not be so many that any of us feel we can't do it or that we
compromise the quality of our work (but all works will be roughly
postcard size). But at the same time it should be enough to end up with
a nice little collection and we can do several such exchanges over the
coming year which will give new members that haven't joined us yet a
chance to participate and the rest of use a chance to accumulate
examples of each other's work. I am thinking that everyone would send
works to me like a hub. I would then scan, photo and otherwize document
everything. I will do a permanent exhibit at the museum and maybe over
time we could gradually arrange a traveling exhibition curcuit for the
best works collected by the museum during this year and in the mean time
individual artists can arrange exhibitions of the collections that they
have aquired. I don't have any big money but I can contribute some time,
focus and some of the money for such an idea over time. This seems like
a pretty exciting idea to me and has a lot of potential. I like the
duchamp idea also from that cornell show of creating a 'suitcase'
traveling exhibition or at least a 'crate' exhibit that will be a kind
of fold out assemblage like we are talking about on the IPDG mail group.
cecil
http://www.ontologicalmuseum.org/


From: Dale Copeland <dale@xxxx.xx.xxx
Date: Wed Jan 6, 1999 0:18pm
Subject: Collage Swap

Count me in, Cecil. If you're envisaging everyone making a number of
postcards ..... I guess 10 or 12 is the sort of number which is still
fun and doesn't feel like mass production. Yes?
Dale

From: "James Azzinaro" <jamesazzinaro@xxxxxxx.xxxx
Date: Wed Jan 6, 1999 10:41am
Subject: Re: Collage Swap

OK is there any kind of time limit?...... Are there any tenative
submission dates? are we making 12? as you can see I'm a little crazy
today and as my friends and my wife would say jim......you're obsessing
.....i always get this way when i've finished a painting and it's time
to start another.....but it usually gets me working just to shut the
noise inside my head off ! anyhow let me know the particulars ....and
i'm going to go stare at a blank piece of paper plywood.....
something any thing .....
jim azzinaro

Date: Thu Jan 7, 1999  12:03 pm
Subject: Re: Collage Swap

OK I have now posted a page for this exchange at
http://www.ontologicalmuseum.org/museum/collage/mailart/bakers_dozen.htm
read it over carefully and let me know if there are any missing details.
Cecil


From: Dale Copeland <dale@xxxx.xx.xxx
Date: Sat Feb 6, 1999  12:58 pm
Subject: with thanks

Thank you to all the collage group, especially Cecil/ Why? For getting
me going again. It's weeks since I made an assemblage, years since the
last collage. But the Baker's Dozen project has got me started again,
and you know what? It's fun!!
Dale

From: Cecil Touchon <touchon@xxxxxxx.xxxx
Date: Fri Jan 8, 1999 0:51pm
Subject: More on Collage exchange project

OK so far there are about 13 or 14 artists who seem to be on for the
collage exchange project(still room for more). So as not to get this
collage list totally absorbed in this project I have created
collage01@yahoogroups.com a seperate list just for discussion of the
technical details etc. of whatever mailart project we are working on at
the moment. In this case the project is A BAKER'S DOZEN. If you are
participating in this project or want to keep up with what's happening
and maybe join in on a future project
Thanks to all of you who are participating, this is my first step in
this mail art direction and actually exchanging art with other artists
so I am pretty excited about the whole idea and look forward to being
awestruck by everyone's beautiful work.
Cecil

(some packages never made it to the collage museum including dale's package so
later she volunteered to host the exchange.)

From: Dale Copeland
Date: Fri Oct 8, 1999 4:52am
Subject: Re: baker's dozen

If Cecil would like a break, I'd be happy to organise another Baker's
Dozen collage exchange. If anyone is interested ..... same setup as
last time, you send 13 collages, each more or less 5" X 7", on some sort
of backing which is 8" X 10" or less (so mixed packages are easy to
return). Enclose $10 US or the equivalent in local currency (for return
postage), with name and posting address. (Also email address for
letting you know when it arrives) And you get back a mixed package of
12 collages from other people. (And one set goes to Cecil's Museum of
Collage). Anyone interested? Cut-off date ....I'd like to make it the
end of the year, but I guess things are getting quite hectic .... how
about the end of January?
Let me know.
Dale
Snail mail address if you need it:
Dale Copeland
7266 Surf Highway
R D 37
Okato
New Zealand

From: Dale Copeland <dale@xxxx.xx.xxx
Date: Sat Oct 9, 1999 6:20pm
Subject: Re: Re: baker's dozen

> Which "set" goes to Cecil's collage museum?

One from each person - even if there are a thousand people each
sending in 13. All those people get 12 back (mixed, stirred, random,
assorted) and the museum get a thousand. Is that O.K.? Happy to choose
what I consider the best from each, or everyone can mark one of their 13
as the museum piece, whatever you all like.
Dale

From: Dale Copeland <dale@xxxx.xx.xxx
Date: Sat Oct 9, 1999 6:25pm
Subject: Re: Re: baker's dozen

I believe Cecil is away from home for a while. I'm doing the
collect/collate/send bit for this exchange and am of the non-dogmatic
type. My own work is usually 3D assemblage (but I'll flatten it for
this exchange) Any collage medium within the size restrictions is fine
with me.
dale

From: Dale Copeland <dale@xxxx.xx.xxx
Date: Mon Oct 11, 1999 8:01pm
Subject: Re: Bakers Dozen

To answer (I hope) Gretchen's concerns about a fair exchange of quality
in the Bakers Dozen collage exchange: there are two aspects here which
are impossible to legislate but which I think are most important. One
is the integrity and comradeship of artists. The other is pride. To
sign something, to send it out as an example of your work that you're
happy to be know by ..... this is not a light and trivial thing.
Sure, tastes differ, and working media differ too. If you took part in
the last exchange, or in any form of art swap, I'm sure you'll agree
that you like some pieces more than others, that some artists rise much
higher on your honour list than others. That's fine. All we can do,
all of us, is sign and send only what we're happy to be known by.
O.K.?
Dale


From: cecil touchon <touchon@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx.xxxx
Date: Wed Oct 13, 1999 4:25pm
Subject: Re: Bakers Dozen

OK I am going to try this again....

anyway...
Greetings my fellow collagists!
Catching up on mail I see that a new exchange is afoot and I am glad that
dale has taken the initiative and that this is a digital exchange. After
watching some of our digital collage companions I decided to figure out how
to incorporate digitality into my working process the last few weeks and
have been enjoying the results.  ...

Additionally, and I don´t know if it was covered already but for private
shippers I am quite sure that FEDEX http://www.fedex.com/ UPS
http://www.ups.com/ and DHL http://www.dhl.com/ all serve new zealand.
all right! the lights didn´t go out!
Cecil