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Post by ginny on Jun 25, 2024 19:20:05 GMT
I've kept some decorated envelopes (or cut-out parts of them). I wouldn't care what happens to the envelope later. I enjoy looking at my "art" on the counter the night before mailing, and I hope it stands out when it's received. That's enough. I do wonder if, for the illustratively talented, the envelopes I consider worthy of using as wall art take them about as much time as I use to draw on some abstract lines. I still have a spider drawing, that was on the corner of an envelope, posted up in a corner of the room. Unlike the real spiders, it has been well-behaved and _stays_ up there. My collection of pens is ridiculous to me. As is World of Warcraft, my one video game. But, hey, they're both fun, too. The game is $150 a year. The pens are... more. Amen to that. I mean, once the letter has been let go, I have no power over what people do with it, anyway. So, when I decorate an envelope or choose an envelope from the arsenal I have crafted or whatever, I have no idea what will happen to it eventually, and I think I might as well do something with it that I enjoy at that point. Of course, I hope that the recipient will enjoy my envelope art or whatever I come up with as well ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
I suppose it all boils down to 'each to their own'. I'm not going to convince anyone who thinks snail mail is rubbish of the opposite. If someone is on the fence, I might try to convince them to give it a try, though ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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Post by radellaf on Jun 27, 2024 17:38:15 GMT
I suppose it all boils down to 'each to their own'. I'm not going to convince anyone who thinks snail mail is rubbish of the opposite. If someone is on the fence, I might try to convince them to give it a try, though ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png) Oh, for sure. It's not so much the mailing part that I like. It's the writing. I might liken it to journaling, except you don't keep the journal*, and someone actually reads what you wrote. *unless you scan your outgoing
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escorpio
Pencils
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Posts: 93
Looking for Penpals?: Perhaps. It depends...
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Post by escorpio on Jun 28, 2024 10:30:29 GMT
This story about penpalling between Germany (?) and Sweden made me think of Astrid Lindgren, world-famous author, avid correspondant. A few years ago I read a correspondence of hers and Louise Hartung who lived in pre-wall West Berlin (late 1950s, the Wall was built during the correspondance). They wrote frequently and in one letter Astrid laments "you sent this letter on Tuesday and it didn't arrive until Friday"; she thought a 3 day delivery from Berlin to Stockholm in the 1950s was a long time to wait. And now that's how long it takes to send a domestic letter to my in-laws, 2 hours by car away.
Well... Astrid Lindgren had a point there, although in her case, it was a delivery between two big cities, and we are talking about correspondence between rural Germany and rural Sweden in my grandmother's case. When I was a kid, there was postal delivery on either Christmas or Boxing Day (25th/26th December). Plus I remember that on certain days we received post two times a day. Admittedly, that was in the late 60s / early 70s, so it's quite a while ago. Postal mail just does not have the same vital significance anymore that it had back then because we have so many other means of communication.
In Germany, the domestic delivery times will get longer from next year on. At the moment, it's a 1-2 day delivery time, from 2025 on it will be longer - and of course, postage will get more expensive. I'm not complaining - this is my hobby, and it brings me joy, so it's not like I will stop sending letters. I'm all for giving posties fair wages as well, and I know that the infrastructure needs to get maintained. And in comparison to other countries, Germany still isn't all that bad with postage rates as long as you stay within the standard sizes and weight zones.
Fair point about the big cities. These women even sent fresh flowers in the post and they arrived still looking good!.
In the early 20th century, in Stockholm they had mail delivery twice a day. While I did know I was reminded when I heard about it on the radio the other day. And the presenter, an artist/comedian/musician/director (he prefers "all artist" spoke about it and then said "what if someone told PostNord (mail company) about it? But they wouldn't know until next week when my express letter is delivered."
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Post by distractedmom on Jun 28, 2024 15:53:08 GMT
I talk about my pens and ink and penpals a lot. I think my friends find me “quaint.” Everyone has their “thing” that they enjoy spending money and time doing. For me, writing letters is therapeutic. I am glad to have found others who also enjoy the act of putting pen to paper.
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Post by Rouge on Jul 11, 2024 10:06:29 GMT
I think we are all counting each penny because most of us are used to send galions and galions of letters every year, but I don't think it's a big point. It won't be an issue for someone who would like to get introduced to the fabulous world of snail mail ! Maybe having several penpals can comes at its own budget but, if I am correct, the domestic letter stamp in the US is 68 cents, 85 pennies in the UK if you send it slowly, 1,29 euros in France, ... Maybe with the paper and envelope, you'll hit about 2 dollars/pounds/euros, and I guess you can find cheaper ways to do it, but I doubt sending a first letter is that much hard for most people.
So this is why I think it's better to think about "psychological" and social reasons why people don't send letters. Snail mail is something less and less common these days. I don't see it disappearing anytime soon : I'm just writing that you can even do your administrative duties online in France. I wouldn't be surprised that most people just get advertisements in their mailboxes. To a lot, maybe it's something as uncommon as doing archery (I exaggerate, but it's to illustrate what I mean). I also think that our free time is often squeezed out between our work and the online medias.
But off course I'm open to other explanations.
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Post by sunshine2170 on Jul 11, 2024 19:44:18 GMT
I will never stop writing, the cost for me is very high $3.90 to go to Europe, $3.70 to USA and Canada, $1.50 to Australia but the joy I get and the joy it gives far outweighs the cost and is invaluable, so I will never stop as long as I have some pennies to pay for postage.
I have a new penpal, my 9 year old son of my cousin that I have just started engaging with, so far we communicate via text but I'm going to surprise him with a letter.
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escorpio
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Posts: 93
Looking for Penpals?: Perhaps. It depends...
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Post by escorpio on Jul 12, 2024 8:32:26 GMT
So this is why I think it's better to think about "psychological" and social reasons why people don't send letters. Snail mail is something less and less common these days. I don't see it disappearing anytime soon : I'm just writing that you can even do your administrative duties online in France. I wouldn't be surprised that most people just get advertisements in their mailboxes. To a lot, maybe it's something as uncommon as doing archery (I exaggerate, but it's to illustrate what I mean). I also think that our free time is often squeezed out between our work and the online medias. But off course I'm open to other explanations. 95% of the things I use snail mail for is penpalling, everything else is digital. (Except for that one time when I needed an attestation from the hospital, only to get it home in the (snail) mail, moving it to a new envelope and mailing it (the snail-way) to Social Security).
I think another reason can also be the instant gratification we've grown accustomed to. Everything should happen here and now. I do have some of my penpals on social media, but I rarely just chat with them. I comment on things, but I leave it there, the more personal stuff goes in the letter. Because that's the relation ship we have. For people I know IRL I chat much more, as I don't need to add background stories or expand, I can just send a few words and they'll know instantly. Personally, I don't think I could build a friendship just based on chats, and definitely not based on "public" (which can be private, but catered to many more people) social media, becuase that's the curated version (sometimes I want to write in-jokes to friends, but stop myself since others probably wouldn't get them). Letters, for me, provide more than just a snapshot at life, even if letter very well can be curated as well, but the fact that they are for one person's eyes only, make them more sincere.
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Post by ginny on Jul 12, 2024 9:20:38 GMT
escorpio, 'instant gratification' is a good point. I agree with this observation - waiting for something is not really 'in' these days. If we are honest, it never was - but now we have the means to communicate 'in real time' via chat (talking on the telephone has been around for a while, of course, but that's different again), so why write a letter? I'm not much into text messages myself, but with some folks (whom I know personally), it's ok for me. That's usually for exchanging quick info or the occasional joke, though. Letters are something entirely different to me ![:)](//storage.proboards.com/forum/images/smiley/smiley.png)
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