email Archives - Social Correspondence

A Random Letter in the Mail

Have you ever received a random letter in the mail? Random, as in an unanticipated, handwritten note or letter? The use of first-class mail has been in decline for decades, and letters have become almost rare. Any letter or note in the mail is a gift, whether it be a thank you note, a birthday card, a holiday greeting. But most of our communications today are virtual, via social media, email, text messaging, and more, using multiple platforms. Given the shift in how we communicate, a random letter in the mail is a welcome surprise. Within…

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May 8, 2021

books / Grandparenting / hiking / Letter writing / Mail / Post cards / social distancing / Travel / U.S. Postal Service

Staying at Home

Sidewalk messaging How to practice social distancing Staying at home has become the new normal, because we are living in unusual times. In recent weeks, my only outside activities are a weekly trip to the grocery store, and daily walks, generally close to home. The air is cleaner, thanks to fewer automobiles on the road, and the Bay Area is getting some much- needed rain. And the important thing is for everybody to take whatever steps are possible to keep not only themselves, but also those around us, safe in this time of pandemic. In many…

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March 28, 2020

A SPECIAL LETTER FROM MY GRANDDAUGHTER AT Y CAMP

A special letter from camp

Handwriting / Letter writing / Mail

A SPECIAL LETTER FROM MY GRANDDAUGHTER AT Y CAMP

Guest post by Kay Roberts I received a special letter from my only granddaughter and namesake, Catherine, which she sent me from Y Camp. What was so special about it? Catherine is ten and was spending two whole weeks away from home at Y Camp. How would she handle this big new event? Could she eat and sleep in a strange new place with kids she didn’t know? I remembered back decades ago when her father went to Y Camp. It was a day camp and he only had one night when the kids camped…

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July 26, 2017

Works Progress Administration poster, 1940. Courtesy Library of Congress

email / Handwriting / Letter writing / Mail

Email Letters

The use of first class mail has been declining for two decades or longer. As both business and personal transactions increasingly take place on the Internet, including bill paying, marketing, retail sales, appointment bookings and more, the way we correspond with one another has changed accordingly. Have email letters replaced the personal letters we once wrote by hand or typed and sent through the mail? According to Teddy Wayne, writing for the New York Times, the answer is “no.” Long email letters, apparently, are now also a thing of the past. Wayne reports “business users now…

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September 21, 2015