When did you last receive or write a handwritten letter?

horseless carriage

horseless carriage

Well-known Member
Christmas and other greeting cards are usually handwritten but there was a time when letters were commonplace, not so now. At school I was taught cursive in a style known as Italic Script, it needs a broad nib to achieve the thick line, thin line effect. It's a style that has served me well.

These days when a letter from officialdom arrives most people reply by email, my replies are always by handwritten letter, in ink using a fountain pen. The response that it gets ranges from complimentary, even if it's about a complaint, to the incredulous, I can almost always tell the age of someone by their means of communication.

Did you write to a penfriend when you were young? I never did, most of my school friends had a pen-pal but I was happy enough just writing to family, especially my grandmothers, both of whom were prolific letter writers.

Today you might have an important communication to deal with. Perhaps to a politician, or maybe a utility company, that sort of thing. will it be an email? You can be sure of this, hand write that letter and I can guarantee you will get a response, but don't forget to keep a copy, that's the downside to letter writing, if you don't have a copier you need to write the letter out twice.
 

Christmas card mailings are the limit to my handwriting anymore. Always try to put a short note in with the salutation and signature.

Receiving more electronic cards last couple of years. Sending out a few as well. But find that an uncomfortable activity. Feel guilty for not handwriting a card.

Usually, I reply in the same medium the communication comes to me in. Email in gets an Email reply. Written communication gets a written reply. Still getting billing statements in snail mail. Hand written check is the return there. Yep. Still doing handwritten checks. Guess that makes me a dinosaur.

Is cursive writing even being taught in primary school anymore?
 

I must admit that I really have a problem with writing now. So many years have passed that I don't often write in cursive, now my hand just shakes and it does not look pretty anymore. All the bills are on auto pay, the few cards, checks I send by mail, I am suprised they get to where they are going.
 
Thank you everyone for replying, it was my guess that the handwritten word was an everyday occurrence for most people. What brought it to mind was a letter from a company that had bought out one of the utility companies that I use. It was a typed letter and the opening greeting annoyed me immensely. It began: Hello Robert.

Hello Robert? I didn't know them anymore than they knew me, how I detest the phony faux friendliness of big companies. who appear to be your friend. whilst squeezing every last shekel out of your meagre savings.

The pen came out, they got both barrels, handwritten and a lesson in manners. My correspondence is now addressed by my full name and address, followed by: Dear Sir. The handwritten letter, being one to one, lands on someone's desk, somewhere within the company. In the case of my new utility company it was one J. Jenkins, whose title was: "Customer Services Manager." She was Mrs. Jenkins it brought a wry smile when I saw her sign off: Your's sincerely, J. Jenkins. (Mrs.)

I have posted a copy of my handwriting previously, the letter to the utility company is confidential but the style of handwriting is not.
letter 001.JPG
 
Last letter I wrote was to my mom, shortly before she died. She read it to everyone who'd listen.
But if she'd had a laptop, I'd have emailed her. And she'd have still read it to everyone.

That was about a year ago. Normally, I text and email or call. And today I had face-time with former foster son, Paxton. My handwriting isn't as neat and consistent as it was several years ago. Not sure if that's because my hands hurt or because I'm out of practice.
 
Blessed said:
I must admit that I really have a problem with writing now. So many years have passed that I don't often write in cursive, now my hand just shakes and it does not look pretty anymore. All the bills are on auto pay, the few cards, checks I send by mail, I am suprised they get to where they are going.
Click to expand...
OMG....are you me? I could have written that word for word.
I recently started on a low dose beta blocker to treat both my tachycardia (heart rate consistently in the 120s) and an essential tremor. It works, I can now write legibly.

I don't remember when I last wrote a handwritten letter. It has to be decades.
I still have the last handwritten letter I received, dated September 11, 1988. It was from my closest friend at that time, and still my closest friend today.

I scanned it recently and emailed it to her. She said, she "had forgotten about that letter, but look at it, I could have written the same letter today, except it would have been an email."
 
Probably in 1977. The first girl I ever dated used to send me letters in the mail. We were/are both introverts and there was very little conversation on the two dates we went on.
Since getting her to talk was like pulling teeth, I pulled out of seeing her anymore after that.
The next girl I dated 2 years later was an outgoing person, very easy to talk to. And apparently very easy to marry as it turned out.
 
I've always been a letter writer with friends and relatives, and had a Canadian pen pal when I was young.

After my mother died my father and I wrote letters back and forth almost monthly, until I said something he didn't like and he threatened to get a gun a shoot me --( his go-to response to anything he didn't like after he started to get dementia.) ;)

I still enjoy the relaxation of writing in cursive, but I don't think I'll be able to do it for much longer. Last year I filled a composition book with a writing project I'd set for myself and by the end of it the knuckle on my right index finger was swollen and red. I thought it would get better but it didn't really and still sometimes hurts if I do something like peel potatoes. Stupid knuckle.
 
Blessed said:
I must admit that I really have a problem with writing now.

Me, too⬆️ (Don't shake...but...)
I used to have nice handwriting..
Now, I either use a typewriter...oh! Yes, still have...and glad..
(Was a BD present from DH...years ago..and had't used
till the "chicken-scratchin" came on)
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I wrote three two weeks ago, and have since received two. It feels more intimate and friendly to actually sit down and share a few thoughts.
I hope to continue to write for some time.
 
When I write by hand it's usually printed instead of cursive because I once had a job that required it when taking data so it became a habit. The last time I wrote a letter in cursive that I recall was writing home when in the service decades ago.
 
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