When Did People Stop Writing Letters As Part Of Everyday Life?

[rwilsonedn]

  On 3/5/2013 at 12:51 AM, ZachWasniak said:

My school is sooooooooooo concerned about constructed response, so they have us write in little paper packets. Why not have us write to other people in another state or something, then to avoid looking a fool by writing with slang, they would write properly, and hopefully get used to it. It baffles me that we don't get to do fun stuff like that..

First, congratulations on having found a school that still cares about such things! Second, I think you have a great idea. There could be an informal network of students who write letters to each other, knowing that the recipient would share the letter with their class on the other end.

And third, I think you are touching on a really important point here. Corresponding with another person through letters in the mail is a quite different skill than exchanging e-mail. In e-mail, texting, and so on, I don't worry too much about first impressions because I can always correct them on the next exchange: "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to sound that way!"

But when I write letters, I not only think about spelling, grammar, and punctuation, I think about how the person on the other end will understand what I've written. I summon up a mental image of them and have that image read my letter in my imagination, to make sure I won't be misunderstood. To me, writing a letter is closely related to writing a short story or a play--you are creating a little world that must be self-contained, yet must give the reader the feelings and information you wish to convey. In a more utilitarian world, writing a letter is also closely related to preparing for a negotiation.

Anyway, I think you have a great idea.

ron

[MaddyMarcel]

There could be an informal network of students who write letters to each other, knowing that the recipient would share the letter with their class on the other end.

 

This sounds like a great idea!

[ZachWasniak]

  On 3/5/2013 at 8:42 PM, rwilsonedn said:

  On 3/5/2013 at 12:51 AM, ZachWasniak said:

My school is sooooooooooo concerned about constructed response, so they have us write in little paper packets. Why not have us write to other people in another state or something, then to avoid looking a fool by writing with slang, they would write properly, and hopefully get used to it. It baffles me that we don't get to do fun stuff like that..

First, congratulations on having found a school that still cares about such things! Second, I think you have a great idea. There could be an informal network of students who write letters to each other, knowing that the recipient would share the letter with their class on the other end.

And third, I think you are touching on a really important point here. Corresponding with another person through letters in the mail is a quite different skill than exchanging e-mail. In e-mail, texting, and so on, I don't worry too much about first impressions because I can always correct them on the next exchange: "Oh, sorry! I didn't mean to sound that way!"

But when I write letters, I not only think about spelling, grammar, and punctuation, I think about how the person on the other end will understand what I've written. I summon up a mental image of them and have that image read my letter in my imagination, to make sure I won't be misunderstood. To me, writing a letter is closely related to writing a short story or a play--you are creating a little world that must be self-contained, yet must give the reader the feelings and information you wish to convey. In a more utilitarian world, writing a letter is also closely related to preparing for a negotiation.

Anyway, I think you have a great idea.

ron

Thanks for the input, and I completely agree. I am always sure that my spelling, grammar, punctuation, etc is correct. I may be the only one using it correctly, but at least I'll have a bett chance with an employer when I'm older. That's what I try to base everything off of.

[Shutterbug57]

  On 10/16/2012 at 3:47 PM, mmahany said:

Let me play the devil's advocate to some of you old farts I will add that I'm 24 years old and I realize that I’m young enough to be a grandson to some of you.

 

It sounds like many of you have an issue with HOW the newer generation communicates rather than the tools they use. Let's not forget that at one point in time, there was a grumpy old caveman who thought his grandchildren were lazy because they painted on animal skin rather than chiseling on the side of the cave wall (that is far from historically accurate but I hope you see my point).

 

Tools for communication have evolved rapidly over the past century compared to the last 1000 years. We've seen ballpoints, typewriters, computers, fax machines, cordless phones, cell phones, the internet, and so many other tools. You may or may not like it, but these tools represent an evolution of communication. They allow us to communicate with people instantly who live thousands of miles away. They also save time and money.

 

Again, I think many of your gripes are about the quality of what the modern generation communicates, but in my opinion the problem occurs with people of all ages. One of the more obvious issues is the incorrect use of heterographs. While it’s more prominent in young people, I’ve gotten emails from 60 year old men who make well over $1million a year (and are very educated) that say something like “I am going to visit THERE office today.” Or “Your doing a great job.”

 

My parents are middle aged and a few years ago, they thought text messaging was ridiculous. They laughed that I had a Facebook, and couldn’t understand why I used the internet on my phone. Fast forward to 2012, they both have Facebooks, I get text messages from them all the time, and both of them have an iphone. They eventually realized that they have specific advantages and there is a reason each form of communication is valuable. I applaud my dad for telling me one day "I realized I was acting like an ignorant old man and Facebook actually is pretty neat." He was able to get in touch with an old high school friend who now lives in Europe.

 

When it comes down to it, handwriting letters is time consuming, messy, more expensive, and takes more time to deliver. However, in the 21st century, hand writing a letter is considered a sign of eloquence. It also offers a more personal feel.

 

I’m very used to dealing with people in retirement in my profession. I always handwrite my notes during appointments, hand write birthday cards to clients, and everything is handwritten. I do so because it shows that I took the time to care about the person I'm communicating with. However, I still get probably 200 emails a day, 30+ phone calls, and even occasional text messages from clients.

 

Different people prefer different forms of communication. The more we progress, the less people find the need to hand write a letter.

 

 

I am old enough to be your dad @ 55. As for modern methods being cheaper, I challenge that. I don't know if you pay your own bills yet or not, but when I total up what I pay for 4 smart phones and internet access at home each month, I could write a lot of letters and still save money even if I used nice stationery. True, the timeliness of the communication would be slower and require more planning, but I really don't think it is cheaper today even if I factor out the purchase costs of the phones and look only at the monthly bills for service.

 

As to the apparently illiterate use of the language by some well educated persons, it is quite possible that thier smart phone decided to change what they typed in. My iPhone does this with some regularity and it is down right irritating. I have watched it as I have typed in the proper word and it will change it to a different word when I hit space. I am not saying all educated persons are perfect in their use of the language, but I think that smart phones have done a lot to make people look less educated than they are.

 

These are just my $0.02, YMMV.

Edited March 8, 2013 by Shutterbug57

[Runnin_Ute]

  On 3/8/2013 at 4:30 PM, Shutterbug57 said:

  On 10/16/2012 at 3:47 PM, mmahany said:

Let me play the devil's advocate to some of you old farts I will add that I'm 24 years old and I realize that I'm young enough to be a grandson to some of you.

 

It sounds like many of you have an issue with HOW the newer generation communicates rather than the tools they use. Let's not forget that at one point in time, there was a grumpy old caveman who thought his grandchildren were lazy because they painted on animal skin rather than chiseling on the side of the cave wall (that is far from historically accurate but I hope you see my point).

 

Tools for communication have evolved rapidly over the past century compared to the last 1000 years. We've seen ballpoints, typewriters, computers, fax machines, cordless phones, cell phones, the internet, and so many other tools. You may or may not like it, but these tools represent an evolution of communication. They allow us to communicate with people instantly who live thousands of miles away. They also save time and money.

 

Again, I think many of your gripes are about the quality of what the modern generation communicates, but in my opinion the problem occurs with people of all ages. One of the more obvious issues is the incorrect use of heterographs. While it's more prominent in young people, I've gotten emails from 60 year old men who make well over $1million a year (and are very educated) that say something like "I am going to visit THERE office today." Or "Your doing a great job."

 

My parents are middle aged and a few years ago, they thought text messaging was ridiculous. They laughed that I had a Facebook, and couldn't understand why I used the internet on my phone. Fast forward to 2012, they both have Facebooks, I get text messages from them all the time, and both of them have an iphone. They eventually realized that they have specific advantages and there is a reason each form of communication is valuable. I applaud my dad for telling me one day "I realized I was acting like an ignorant old man and Facebook actually is pretty neat." He was able to get in touch with an old high school friend who now lives in Europe.

 

When it comes down to it, handwriting letters is time consuming, messy, more expensive, and takes more time to deliver. However, in the 21st century, hand writing a letter is considered a sign of eloquence. It also offers a more personal feel.

 

I'm very used to dealing with people in retirement in my profession. I always handwrite my notes during appointments, hand write birthday cards to clients, and everything is handwritten. I do so because it shows that I took the time to care about the person I'm communicating with. However, I still get probably 200 emails a day, 30+ phone calls, and even occasional text messages from clients.

 

Different people prefer different forms of communication. The more we progress, the less people find the need to hand write a letter.

 

 

I am old enough to be your dad @ 55. As for modern methods being cheaper, I challenge that. I don't know if you pay your own bills yet or not, but when I total up what I pay for 4 smart phones and internet access at home each month, I could write a lot of letters and still save money even if I used nice stationery. True, the timeliness of the communication would be slower and require more planning, but I really don't think it is cheaper today even if I factor out the purchase costs of the phones and look only at the monthly bills for service.

 

As to the apparently illiterate use of the language by some well educated persons, it is quite possible that thier smart phone decided to change what they typed in. My iPhone does this with some regularity and it is down right irritating. I have watched it as I have typed in the proper word and it will change it to a different word when I hit space. I am not saying all educated persons are perfect in their use of the language, but I think that smart phones have done a lot to make people look less educated than they are.

 

These are just my $0.02, YMMV.

 

Have to agree with you here. Of course you and I are the same generation. (I turn 55 in a few days). I recently sent two letters overseas. Both were $1.10 for the postage, and if I add in the approximate cost of paper, envelope and ink I am into each one about $1.75. I can send a lot of international letters for the $50-$80/month a data plan and cell service costs. (One went to Australia, the other to Thailand from the US)

 

As to your cell phone annoyances?

Try turning off the predictive text. It may slow down your texting (a little) but it is worth it.

Edited March 9, 2013 by Runnin_Ute

[Runnin_Ute]

  On 12/22/2012 at 2:34 AM, Harlequin said:

  On 12/21/2012 at 8:05 PM, Duke of Buckingham said:

Fountain pens, like mechanical watches (another passion of mine), are coming back, but marketed as upscale, exclusive items. This gives me hope for letter writing in future, even if it is only a seasonal luxury.

Tell me about it- it makes it very hard for new people to really get involved with them. I LOVE pocket watches, for example, but could never in my dreams really afford some of the ones that I'd really like- and not b/c they are "luxury" type items or anything. More b/c that's how they've come to be treated by (mostly I assume) the people who want to sell them.

 

 

I have three pocket watches - all mechanical (of course), and while including them I have a total of about 26 watches and another 9 that are automatics, the remainder being quartz. And about half of those need batteries. (1 quartz and 1 auto are knockoffs of a major brand. The quartz needs a battery.)

 

I don't often use my pocket watches anymore, but they are well, just different.

Waltham Model 1894 circa 1908 (it does run, but not accurately)

Westclox - a pewter colored hunter style case. I bought it in the 1970's.

Pencron - Swiss Made, gold colored hunter style case. Came with a fob that is a pocket knife that matches the case. Late 1970's or early 1980's.

[Runnin_Ute]

  On 2/6/2013 at 9:18 AM, Hehedragon said:

After reading some of the comments above, I've decided to put a thought in, do we have to make a choice between fountain pen (handwriting, letters) and electronical devices(calls, emails, texts...). There are always people appreciating the past and accepting the future. Lets just embrace the fact!!

 

They each have their place. Sometimes, the email is the best option, other times a text. When I arrive at the office each morning I shoot off a text to my wife that is nothing more than a smiley. Just letting her know I made it to work safely. She does something similar. They are all communications tools ultimately. Each with a different use/purpose.

[Biff]

  On 11/4/2012 at 6:26 PM, Mike Schutz said:

There are many kinds of media for us to use. My fountain pen is as important to me as my iPhone.

 

The ax I want to grind here is the lack of the use of proper English, spelling and punctuation. I am far from expert in any of these areas but I at least try to put my words together with some sense of propriety. Too often, and I'm not the exception, we rely on our imperfect minds or the imperfect spell checkers and other computer tools to correct our mistakes. This forum's members are exceptional at writing responses that do use complete sentences with proper punctuation. But we've all seen the lack of proper spelling and absence of punctuation used in much of today's media. I have a Webster's dictionary on my computers and iPhone and an OED on my desk. They're not that hard to use and I advocate that more people use them.

 

Write on,

I never saw the words "loose" and "lose" confused until the advent of the internet. It never occurred to me it would be possible. Every time I see it, which is often, I just shake my head. I think these people simply never wrote at all before the internet arrived.

[scrivelry]

I wrote, and wrote extensively - letters many pages long - when I was in college, and visited my mailbox (physical) numerous times a day to see if the mail had come and anyone had written to me.

 

When I studied abroad, my not exactly boyfriend wrote me so many letters that the guy who put the mail up would comment on my friend with the precise little script. That guy now sends out a quarterly newsletter to his friends. Some of them send it on to people who do not know him, it is so amusing.

 

I agree that the cost of phone service is crucial in all this. In the late 80's I was paying about the same amount in phone bills to try to keep up with my friends as I was in rent. And I lived in a high rent area.

 

Now I can call cross-country for essentially nothing, and my phone bill per year is probably less than it was some individual months back 25 years ago.

 

Technology, particularly the ability to type and then change my mistakes has made things possible for me that just weren't 30 years ago, when I had to pay by the page to get anything typed. But I do miss letters.

 

T

[proton007]

I've always heard the following arguments in favor of technology use, everywhere:

• Productive
• Cost Saving
• Faster
• Reliable

Here's my counter argument, in order of the arguments above:

• Increasing productivity means you're doing more things in the same time. Technology is driven by business needs first and foremost. Basically employees end up working the same amount of time, but can get a lot more done in that same time. Profitable for a business, not much use from a personal perspective. In addition, there's a compromise on long term thinking and reflection.
• The bills being paid for phone and internet considered, cost isn't that much of an issue.
• Speed is not the only factor when it comes to quality of communication. In emergency cases, yes, speed is important, and emergency systems have been using various forms of technology before the advent of email, sms and twitter.
• Postal services are pretty reliable when it comes to delivering letters. Far better in some cases, because of its personalized nature. (Example villages where there's no system of numbering houses )

 

In addition to the above, my assertion is that the 'unit price' of data has dropped considerably with the use of internet. I look at it from two sides, creating and consuming information:

• Information retrieval has improved, you can download a comprehensive database quickly to take a look. However, someone spent their time and effort to create that information in the first place, this fact remains unchanged.
• Garbage generation has increased. Every nag, every twitch has found an outlet. Badly researched articles, opinion pieces are substitutes for news and information. Instead of letting it ruminate in their minds, think and reflect, people are happy to find a quick fix outlet for their feelings and be done with it. So much for self restraint and clarity of thought.
• Organization and managing of this information (useful or not) is done outside the place of its creation. I can see information, but it doesn't exist in my hand. I can download it, but its just a copy. I don't get to manage it the way I want, because the original is in a server farm somewhere. Pretty good for random garbage, but impersonal and IMO, useless when it comes to personal communication and memories.

In short, creating and managing useful information still needs effort and time. You may be able to access information quicker, however, organizing it, giving it shape still needs to be done by hand.

 

Finally, information sharing is person to person, not computer to computer. Regurgitating twitter feeds and random lines doesn't serve a purpose. It never has. Just because a space exists for its existence outside the human mind doesn't justify its existence.

[ethernautrix]

  On 12/4/2013 at 3:18 AM, Nicolas_Rieussec said:

I never saw the words "loose" and "lose" confused until the advent of the internet. It never occurred to me it would be possible. Every time I see it, which is often, I just shake my head. I think these people simply never wrote at all before the internet arrived.

 

The Internet definately* reinforces poor spelling.

 

Every time I see "definately," I wonder, "How does the person hear the word when he or she spells it?" When I see "definately," I hear "defiantly," because we don't read letter by letter.

 

But, as I am struggling to learn a few Polish words, never mind me!

 

 

 

*Intentionally misspelled

Edited December 4, 2013 by ethernautrix

[lynxcat]

i'm of the (first?) generation that never wrote letters by hand. despite penmanship classes in primary school, i never --- then --- got past block printing, and i picked up typing so early that now, my brain is wired to do its composing at a keyboard.

 

it seems i can't edit and compose in my head; i need to type it out, quickly, to get it down, then edit after the fact in a text editor or word processor. i try to write a short journal entry by hand most days nowadays, to keep my (sorely trained-up in adulthood) handwriting from decaying too much; the composition and editing process is torturous, my mind isn't set to work that slowly or without a buffer for backspacing and rewriting. the short letters i just sent off with the christmas cards were the same way.

 

(besides, domestic postage rates may be reasonable, but try sending letters to family across an ocean. $24 for a pair of holiday cards! i'm not doing that more than once a year.)

 

it got to the point where i considered writing out the letters in a text editor, then copying by hand instead of printing them out just for that personal touch. i only abandoned that as being obviously silly, and forced myself to plan the letters out in my head for another hour or two before sitting down to write.

 

spelling online is generally atrocious, yes, and i have no real idea why. i'm sure my own is far from perfect, especially as i've turned off all the autocorrect and spellchecker functions in the various pieces of software i use, on account of them annoying me more than i felt their help was worth.

 

(...and now i'm consciously noticing just how much i rely on being able to edit and rewrite in this little box before hitting the "post" button... i could not have written this comment, as it stands, by hand; 'twould have taken me an unreasonably longer amount of time.)

[scrivelry]

The need to compose by writing and re-writing is not necessarily a factor of modern tech - various people's writing processes differ, and always have.

 

I disagree that writing in a text editor and then copying is silly - especially if you write a first draft in the editor and then polish it as you hand write. It was not unheard of for people to either do drafts of letters, or make fair copies before they sent the letter off, or both. It my never have been a universal practice to do either, but there were those who did.

[lahlahlaw]

  On 2/28/2013 at 2:37 AM, lowks said:

I might be a hopeless romantic but then I think finding really really old hand written letters feels more valuable than finding a really really old email in your inbox.

 

I'm in your boat. One day I will read the letters my father and mother wrote to each other while he lived in the U.S. and she in Mexico. They wrote almost daily for four years and my mom saved most of them, not sure if my dad's are there. I wish I had something like that to leave my children. As soon as I finish school next week, I plan to start writing a journal for/to my son, so that I can preserve all my memories of him, and as a guide of sorts with things I'm experiencing at the time.

[SuperNib44]

  On 12/14/2012 at 4:47 AM, Runnin_Ute said:

I am close enough in age (mid 50's) that I have watched this evolution as well. The time in my life when I was most prolific with the pen in terms of letter writing was a period of time between October 1979 and September 1981 when I was many hundreds of miles away from my family and because of circumstances other than a couple of times a year, if I were to communicate in any manner with my loved ones it was to be by letter. Christmas, Mother's Day and Father's Day were really the only times I had to speak with family.

 

 

Where did you serve on your mission?

Edited December 14, 2013 by SuperNib44

[dragonaura]

  On 2/28/2013 at 2:37 AM, lowks said:

I might be a hopeless romantic but then I think finding really really old hand written letters feels more valuable than finding a really really old email in your inbox.

 

Exactly. A letter someone has handwritten is precious especially if it is found many years into the future and treasured

[jaqcp]

My year-end totals for 2013 were 231 letters/cards out and 60 back in. Few people actually write me back. Over half of the 60 were signature only Christmas cards. A few write me regularly, including a couple of pen pals and my mother. A few never have and never will write me back, but I know they are encouraged because they say so on Facebook. Regardless, I will try to break 300 this year because I enjoy it and I know people enjoy receiving letters even if they don't return them.

[ClaytonLittle]

It takes more effort to write a letter, but by that very effort, it is made more special. You get what you put in in terms of effort, so more people are deciding ease of communication is more important than the enthusiasm with which it is received.

[Runnin_Ute]

  On 12/14/2013 at 10:43 PM, SuperNib44 said:

Where did you serve on your mission?

Texas Dallas Mission 1979-1981, age 21-23 rather than 19-21.

[sherlock_tomes]

I write letters on the order of one or two a week, mostly because I have a long-term correspondence with an artist friend. Although I use the phone and email on a regular basis (but never Twitter), I find that writing letters is superior to these modes for personal communications for several reasons: 1. It allows me to write by hand, and my writing and thinking processes are different (not necessarily better, but less verbose) when I use handwriting. 2. I can write whenever and wherever I want with great ease without lugging electronic technology around. 3. It allows for lengthy elaboration of ideas (as does, admittedly, email) and composition over long periods of time, promoting depth of thinking. 3. I can continue a train of thought for a long time without interruption and without distraction by other factors, other than life as usual. 4. It's less strain on the eyes, especially for someone like myself who works eight hours a day in front of a monitor. 5. Fountain pens.

 

The fact of the letter object being more personal is not a big influence to me -- it's not a reason for writing letters, although it is a nice perk. And I get all sorts of collages, artwork, doodles, stickers, and stuff like that back from my artist friend. Not sure how long this correspondence has been going. 20 years? At least.

 

One downside to writing letters as an extended conversation is that references to past letters aren't always clear -- the recipient has the only copy, and I can't always remember what I wrote that he is referring to. I sometimes have to beg for copies of my letters back, when they're good ones.

 

I do worry about the cost of stamps going up, but at two letters a week, that's about a dollar a week total postage -- the actual increase this year (~6 cents per week for me) is hardly noticeable. I'll gladly pay it for the pleasure of my correspondences.

 

As a dedicated letter-writer, I thought I'd add my perspective.