I have written on this topic before but, today I was listening to a phone in radio show and the topic was friendly letters. It got me thinking about friendly letters again.
Now I'm old enough to know what a friendly letter is. I'm also old enough to have written many friendly letters. I grew up during the 40's and 50's. I had excellent mentors as far as friendly letter writing was concerned. My mother and Grandmother corresponded weekly. As little kids we would gather around Mom to hear Grandma's letter.
So when I left home I tried to write my mother a weekly letter. I kept it up for about 5 years and then it gradually dwindled to nothing.
Up until my mother-in-law's death we got friendly letters. Now about once every two or three years I get a friendly letter from a sister-in-law. It is an excellent letter and I like to see it come.
So that covers that. Friendly letter writing has dwindled to nothing.
Back to the phone in show. There are people who still write friendly letters but it seems that they are special projects. For example, one husband went through his wife's address book and asked people to write his wife a friendly letter for her birthday. She got fifty letters and is still excited today. The conclusion on the show was that friendly letter writing is dead.
The Internet became part of the topic...emails, face book , twitter. The feeling was that these devices were part of the problem for killing the friendly letter. However, writing in these formats did not give a good letter. Another enemy of friendly letters is the phone. There are very economical long distance rates compared to 50 or 60 years ago. It is literally cheaper to phone than write.
Now with blogging there is more room for detailed information. The goal of some blogs is to keep friends and family informed. Some blogs consist of posts that describe daily life. They tell the story well enough to make it interesting enough to read.
So are you involved in any way with friendly letter writing? Has blogging taken over friendly letter writing to some extent?
A stamp dealer was telling me that stamp collecting has almost disappeared. Young people are not interested in it. They don't write and have little to do with stamps.
I was just sorting through some files and found a letter I wrote to my mother about ten years ago. Since her passing I have not written friendly letters. Everyone else is hooked up to the Internet and smartphones. I do write texts and emails much more than I use the voice phone. So you could say that I still write.
ReplyDeleteBlogging certainly makes a special kind of writer out of us.
DeleteI used to write a lot of friendly letters long before the advent of the internet. I admit I got too busy and I grew disappointed with a lack of letters back. The same applies to cards for special occasions though I do still try to keep up with this aspect. I do appreciate those who take the time to send a friendly letter.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure any of us would appreciate a hand written letter. I certainly like to see my sister-in-law's letter.
DeleteFriendly letters are dead indeed, I used to write to my parents when on holidays, but they are dead aswell now. So I only write an email so now and then to a friend or ring the phone.
ReplyDeleteYou remind me that there are certain people I should write to.
Deletei very rarely send hard copy, almost always electronic. At Christmas I send a short note to a few
ReplyDeleteI think most of us use the electronic system.
DeleteI have a friend in long-term care, in Muskoka. I write to her.
ReplyDeleteThen the tiresome Christmas newsletters, or bragfests, my older, richer cousins used to send me.
" Bragfest" Wonderful term.
DeleteAbout 15 years ago I wrote an article about the demise of stamp collecting -- even then it was a dwindling hobby. It makes me sad because I was an avid stamp collector as a kid and I learned a lot about the world that way.
ReplyDeleteAs for letters, yeah, I can't tell you the last time I wrote one by hand. There are a lot of positives to our speedier communication these days, but it is a shame that the elegance of a handwritten letter is a thing of the past.
I did write (type) a letter to a friend last summer as she doesn't have a computer.
DeleteYou bring up a good point. No, I don’t write or receive friendly letters any more. My blog has taken up that space, and the blogs of my friends feel like friendly letters.
ReplyDeleteThe blog has a big bang for the buck as the same letter goes to many people.
DeleteI feel that the age of the friendly letter has pretty much gone. There's not much handwriting these days either. I loved that idea of getting the wife's friends and family members to write her special letters for her birthday. Very sweet.
ReplyDeleteHand writing? I can hardly do cursive writing.
DeleteCursive writing? Do you mean swearing?
DeleteFriendly letter writing is indeed dead. Or at least very slow. I don't write letters at all anymore. I do send a handful of greeting cards out during the holidays, so at least there's that.
ReplyDeleteI would think very few people write letters anymore.
DeleteHello, the birthday letters is wonderful. I have to admit the closest I came to writing letters were the Christmas cards I sent. The emails, texting and blogs does seem to take the place of the letter writing. Thanks so much for your visit to my blog. Have a happy day!
ReplyDeleteThinking back ...the Christmas rush. There were extremely large amounts of mail at Christmas.
DeleteI find that as you say, phone calls are easier, especially with long distance rates being the way they are.
ReplyDeleteThere was a stamp collector shop here that closed up a year or so ago. Its quarters now house a restaurant of all things.
I guess there are too many other collectibles in competition with stamps.
DeleteOld hand-written letters are beautiful. I rarely write letters anymore. I do love fountain pens and bottled ink. Computers changed everything!
ReplyDeleteFountain pens and ink! I haven't even got one anymore. I wonder if you can still buy ink?
DeleteYou can still buy at Michael's craft store. I'm sure that Staples or some place like that also have them. There may be a few specialty shops for pens and ink. We used to have one downtown but I doubt it is still there. Most likely have to buy this kind of thing on line.
DeleteI haven't written a letter in years. Email, phone and in some cases I send postcards to a few friends. That's about it. Sad in some ways but true.
ReplyDeleteIt's a different world out there. Too much TV!
DeleteI think letter writing has nearly disappeared. Not just friendly letter writing but letter writing at all. I know I used to write letters but since email came along I hardly ever put pen to paper. I may be old fashioned but I think it's a great loss.
ReplyDeleteI still send out notecards to several long time friends, but they are dying off one by one. I love getting letters in the mail! I always write something in the notecards...I am a little wordy:)
ReplyDeleteI remember one of my friends sending me friendly letters while she was away overseas but that was 25 years ago and I haven't had a letter since then.
ReplyDeleteIn recent years i haven't even sent Christmas cards but got a bit more enthused about them last Christmas when I participated in a bloggers card swap. I also sent a birthday card recently to an old friend. He phoned me up to say how much he loved the card and he has been showing it to everyone who visits him. It was a blast to hear that!
I still get (and send) letters to a couple of people, but not very regularly. I do write emails that would be considered the same thing except they aren't delivered by the mailman!
ReplyDeleteIt's very true that friendly letter writing by snail mail is pretty non-existent now. At least that's my experience. Nowadays, it's text and email. Mostly, it's text. Then again, friends read my blog and then will talk to me about it and not comment online.
ReplyDeleteHi Red, Re your comment to Henny Penny. Yes, fountain pens are having a “come back.” Put “fountain pen sellers” into Google and you’ll get a page full of pen sellers. I love fountain pens and bottle ink. I recommend Fountain Pen Hospital and The Goulet Pen Company.
ReplyDelete