History of handwritten letters

A Brief History

The first recorded handwritten letter (epistle) was by Persian Queen Atossa around 500
BC. The stamped letter we know today came into being in the reign of Queen Victoria in
1840. Before this date letters did not have stamps or envelopes and the receiver of the letter
had to pay on its receipt. Letters were folded and sealed by wax with ring or hand seal.

What are the advantages?

A hand written letter is seen as a more personal form of communication because the sender
is personally taking the time out of their day to write a letter. Hand written letters are not
used as often as emails which also add more value to them. Think about it, would you rather
receive an email or a hand written letter? I personally like receiving letter. The article above
mentions that through a hand written letter, the reader can almost feel their emotion. I agree. If
the author were angry when writing the letter they may have applied more pressure on their
writing utensil when writing. The authors writing may not be as neat because of anger or
frustration. Also, using a pen or pencil on paper is a cheap way to communicate with others.
Even the postage stamp is only a few cents!

What are the disadvantages?

Letters can take several days to be delivered to the sender. The postal service does not
deliver on Sunday's except during major holidays when the demand for delivering packages is
higher than normal. Other than during major holiday times such as Christmas and New Year’s,
the postal service will not deliver mail Sunday's. In addition to the slow time it takes to deliver
a letter, they also can be misspelled and lost easily resulting in the author to either restart
the letter, or erase any words written in pencil, which could result in smudge marks and
can appear dirty and unprofessional.

The value of the handwritten letter lies within this language of time and care. Writing to
someone, taking the time to craft each letter, to buy a stamp, to select an envelope, to travel
to the post office—none of this goes unnoticed. A letter, before the content is even read, has
already said, “I care about you. You’re someone special.” And that is a message that all
enjoy.

A handwritten letter can be kept as a memorabilia, and passed down to generations. Just
imagine the bliss and the joy of giving your child to read a letter handwritten by his/her
grandmother decades ago. It is definitely worth starting to handwrite your letters and give your
dear ones something to talk about for generations.
Put simply, Letters are for communications. But there’s more to it than that, assuming we’re
not talking about a formal situation. A letter is the most personal form of communication that
isn’t face to face. Not only does it have your unique writing ‘voice‘, it has your unique
handwriting, too. When you write a letter, you can guarantee there’s no letter out there in
existence that looks like yours.

It is something truly original.

You can consider your thoughts properly. There’s no pressure to reveal them sooner than you
wish to. You can say something and say it exactly how you want to. It’s for communicating
your thoughts and feelings to someone else in the most personal way possible, without them
actually standing in front of you.