Top 25 things vanishing from America: #9 -- Hand-written letters
Filed under: Extracurriculars, Technology
This series explores aspects of America that may soon be just a memory -- some to be missed, some gladly left behind. From the least impactful to the most, here are 25 bits of vanishing America.
In 2006, the Radicati Group estimated that, worldwide, 183 billion emails were sent per day. Two million each second. By November of 2007, an estimated 3.3 billion Earthlings owned cell phones, and 80% of the world's population had access to cell phone coverage. In 2004, half a trillion text messages were sent, and the number has no doubt increased exponentially since then. So where amongst this gorge of gabble is there room for the elegant, polite hand-written letter?
While precise statistics aren't available, common opinion strongly suggests the hand-written note has become the dodo of the communications species. If so, I'm saddened. The very act of writing by hand slows the mind, forces it into a more contemplative state in which precisely chosen words convey nuances of emotion that could never be captured in a quick "Wassup?"
Certainly, the barriers for a rebirth of handwritten notes are significant; postage, stationary cost, the lack of immediacy, and the time and care required in its preparation. For me, an additional hurdle is my hen-scratch penmanship.
Nonetheless, nothing expresses respect for another like a handwritten letter, and no love e-mail, text message or cell phone call will ever be carefully bundled into a memory box and savored for years to come. In a world that thrives on acceleration, the handwritten letter calls us to a time more deliberate, elegant, and gracious.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
7-23-2008 @ 7:48AM
walter nix said...
I thought this was intresting
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7-15-2008 @ 8:13AM
Candima said...
I hope writing letters never completely dissapears! I love writing letters to friends and as the article says "Its something that you can put in a memory box and savor for years to come." Plus its so romantic to get a letter from someone who admires you.
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7-15-2008 @ 9:52AM
dawgfan said...
I am a high school teacher and virtually no kids use script, or know how to use it. They all use printing. I proctor the SAT's and there is a part where you have to copy a paragraph in script and sign your name. They freak out. I purposely write on the board so they will se some script(and to piss them off). It's sad that we don't teach these kids penmanship and force them to do it at least once in a while.
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7-19-2008 @ 12:15AM
Denise said...
This is embarrassing to admit, but as a 31-year-old teacher, I also print exclusively and find it extremely annoying when required to copy paragraphs in script (i.e. on Praxis exams). It's not that I can't write in script, it's that my script is so ungodly ugly. It's perfectly legible, but so unattractive. My printing (also perfectly legible) has much more personality. I loathe reading and grading essays written in script, especially the ones written in fat letters by girls who allow absolutely no space between words or lines.
That said, I occasionally write letters with ink and a quill pen, just for fun. Those absolutely have to be in script, ugly or not. It just isn't right to print with a quill. What a fun elective that would be--18th Century Letters! I'd have taken it in high school...
8-02-2008 @ 4:23PM
G. L. Kirk said...
As a teacher you should know that the elementary children of the last 20 years have had to buy calculators to do their math. That is why the young adults of today cannot add, subtract, multiply or divide. I know, because I had to buy my grandson's calculator for his elementary years.
G. L. Kirk
7-15-2008 @ 5:56PM
paul williams said...
i always liked the the personal hand written letter. i recently purchased a pen and ink set from barned and noble and continue to write. The personal touch and respect for the individual can always remain with pen and paper.
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7-15-2008 @ 11:00AM
LAURIE said...
Keyboarding is the new cursive for the 21st century. Furthermore, we are saving trees - this should delight the environmentalists.
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7-24-2008 @ 7:45PM
Ann said...
Although a few trees might be saved, I doubt that the number of people who take the time to write personal letters to loved ones is going to wipe out forests across the world!!
Most people are too lazy, and as you say, use the keyboard...
But I have saved letters written to me from my best friend and also from her daughter since her daughter was in grade school, she is now in her 30's and still takes the time to write to me! Considering the fact that I have no family, these letters are cherished treasures, and if things are going particularly bad opening a letter written in love can still bring a smile and even a tear after all this time.... And it is just NOT THE SAME as an email.
If there is someone in your life that lives in another town, especially, send them a letter or even a short note and see how it can brighten their day!! You will do something very special for them and learn something about yourself at the same time!!
7-15-2008 @ 11:10AM
Larry Morgan said...
I'm a college student attending Seminole State in Oklahoma.
I was really interested with this article and agree with the high school professor.
Kids today really don't have to hand write very much at all anymore, and it's really
a shame. Writing is a great way to convey your thoughts and feelings with accuracy and
the personal touch that email, text, or even speaking can't quite accomplish. I love to send letters and recieve them so i hope we will find some way to keep them from dissapearing.
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7-21-2008 @ 8:04AM
Liz said...
Give me your address and we can be pen pals!
7-15-2008 @ 12:11PM
Kristi said...
I'm sorry to hear that letter writing may go by the waste side. My grandmother, who is no longer with us, got me into letter writing when I was in the 7th grade - I can rem. writing her 18 pgs. front and back! I am now a proud fan of writing letters to 20 people!! Some of these pen pal friends have much more than I do and I've become very close to some great ladies -have even met some of them! Because of writing letters, I visit with a bedridden friend every wk. during the summer when I don't work. Yes, stamps have gone up and trees are being used, but to my pen pal friends and I, it's nothing compared to the smile we can put on someones face when they get a letter or card, cause they are bedridden or home bound!!!
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7-15-2008 @ 12:27PM
larry hall said...
at my age, with a college degree, writing is extremely important. pt. 1 how do you write a novel or essay, or note of apology to your wife. my daughter is a very successful attorney and not very old. i have heard that many new attorneys use internet. as she and i, and evidently her law firm along with all court opinions , including supreme c. written opinions are important. again back to much of my mispent youth and midlife, you have no idea how much you can convey how much you are sorry and express your plea for forgiveness(even when what you did wasn't that bad). plus try to imagine "GRPS F RTH' OR MBY DK" ADIOS AND HAPPY TRAILS.
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7-15-2008 @ 12:53PM
Rose Marie said...
How sad it is to know that Penmanship is no longer required in school studies. Also, re the PC, ....... I have a very dear friend, that has no PC, and likes to receive my hand-written mail. Getting back to Penmanship.......one can hardle decipher penmanship of people schooled in the last 30 years! What a shame!
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7-15-2008 @ 4:50PM
Donald Cheatham said...
It is a shame. A Shame that schools are not teaching. It is a shame that good handwriting is neither taught nor practiced. It is a shame that communication in private terms will be gone, which will result in further evasion of privacy and a diminution of constitutional rights. It is a shame that personal history will be relegated to what is on one's hard drive and not in one's private folio. The education of our youth is at risk. Kids can not read, write and speak English. We will all devolve into acronymistic gingo.
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7-19-2008 @ 12:23AM
Denise said...
Where is handwriting not being taught? Standard curriculum has students printing K-2 and learning (and yes, being graded on) cursive grades 2-5. The fact is, children value what their parents value. Many parents will try to negotiate a better, unearned grade for their children in "minor" subjects like handwriting. "That crazy teacher gave my Tyler a B- in handwriting! It kept him off the honor roll!" Whaaaaaaaa.
7-15-2008 @ 1:16PM
Phil North said...
In September 2007 my mother passed away at nearly 97. She was of a vanishing breed of letter writers. She at one time corresponded regularly with nearly 50 people. She kept a log of letters sent and received. One friend and she carried on a correspondence of almost 50 years. After her friend's death she sent many of the friend's letters back to the family. It was a virtual diary, a treasure trove of memories for the family, in their mother's own hand.
I have many letters from my mother that I have retained over the years. Now that she is gone, rereading them is like a continued conversation with a loved one. These lost treasures from family will never be replaced by emails, the bubblegum of the communication world.
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7-15-2008 @ 1:27PM
Gee C. said...
Receiving a letter is the most comforting feeling there is for a person, sick or healthy, home bound or not. It is a honor for me to write a letter to my friends and family, either to inquiry about health or for an announcement. I am rewarded everytime someone tells me about how they felt when receiving and reading my letter. It is up to us, the letter writers to not let the tradition die. I know I will never stop. God Bless.
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7-15-2008 @ 1:39PM
Marty said...
Not only don't kids know how to write script, but I have yet to see anyone under 20 who knows how to hold a pen or pencil correctly.
Our Grandaughter refers to script as "that fancy writing".
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7-15-2008 @ 1:58PM
Cynthia said...
Wake up for this one America. Your handwriting is not only your identity, but the other than your mouth, handwriting is the only direct link to the history of your life and family, past, present, and future. What are we thinking, depending so much on batteries when paper and pen is the final answer...think about this? Millionaires have not given up their landlines, their expensive lighting fixtures, nor the variety of lightbulbs that show the beauty off...and when I last checked, Levenger, Cross, and fine statationary stores have a long line waiting for the next special request to be engraved. So what's missing here. Act rich, keep your land line, you will need it if your cell batteries run low or die. Pick up that pen and write a letter to a friend, or even write a note to a grandchild, for someone in the hospital, or even just keep your family history alive. Thank goodness I have a fresh ink supply. I love the thought of writing letters or pretty much anything by hand. PS keep my calligraphy pen busy. Let me write your next letter for you.
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7-15-2008 @ 2:10PM
Susan said...
Next to the phone, and very dear oned ones, who have no way to get in touch with one another. I feel sad about the letter writing disappearing. I'm in the middle of a letter write now. (No pun intended).
You really can't win sometimes. "The trees, the trees, what about our precious trees?" That's something I hear about constantly. I believe letter-writing is a very personal way to tell someone how much you love them and that snail-mail would at least be around 'til the day I die!
More trees are being taken down these days for the building of more dwellings. That we simply do not need, but seem to see popping up in the the most beautiful of places around our world. Dwellings, businesses, strip malls, more la-de-da things we just don't need more of. But I guess someone, somewhere thinks we do. There fore, trees are not just being demolished and cut down or burned to a tinder, because of personal letters. Think about it, is it really important to lose what we already have. Or do we have to have more whiners, complaining about our forests. Being used for "paper?" I think naught!
Sincerely,
A person who should stock up on their writing paper. ~
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