Wait, oh yes wait a minute mister postman
Wait, wait mister postman
Mister postman look and see
If there's a letter in your bag for me...
When we lived in South Africa it was a big event to receive mail from Canada. I remember the blue paper aerograms we received from family members back home. My grandmother wrote in neat, tiny lines so she could squeeze as much news as possible into the limited space. I started collecting stamps when we lived in Africa and still have my first album of stamps from many places in the world. My Uncle Bill has an enormous stamp collection and he always said it taught him a lot about history and geography.
As an adolescent, I was an avid pen pal letter writer. I kept in touch with friends from summer camps and we corresponded on a regular basis. At school we could sign up to have pen pals from a number of different countries. We learnt the proper way to address and write a friendly letter as well as a business letter. How things have changed! I use email almost exclusively for correspondence and have even given in to the regular use of e-cards. I rarely use a stamp these days.
But it still is fun to get a letter, a personal letter hand delivered to your door.
Do you still write letters, or has the keyboard replaced your pen, paper and stamps?
Wait, wait mister postman
Mister postman look and see
If there's a letter in your bag for me...
The mailbox gets emptied after work every day and I usually sort through an uninspiring pile of advertising flyers, bills, and bank statements. Imagine my delight in finding this personally addressed envelope covered with interesting stamps in my mail a few days ago!
Thanks Ruthie J!
When we lived in South Africa it was a big event to receive mail from Canada. I remember the blue paper aerograms we received from family members back home. My grandmother wrote in neat, tiny lines so she could squeeze as much news as possible into the limited space. I started collecting stamps when we lived in Africa and still have my first album of stamps from many places in the world. My Uncle Bill has an enormous stamp collection and he always said it taught him a lot about history and geography.
As an adolescent, I was an avid pen pal letter writer. I kept in touch with friends from summer camps and we corresponded on a regular basis. At school we could sign up to have pen pals from a number of different countries. We learnt the proper way to address and write a friendly letter as well as a business letter. How things have changed! I use email almost exclusively for correspondence and have even given in to the regular use of e-cards. I rarely use a stamp these days.
But it still is fun to get a letter, a personal letter hand delivered to your door.
Do you still write letters, or has the keyboard replaced your pen, paper and stamps?
Wow, Ruth, that letter took ages to arrive! I wonder if mail to Canada has to be marked as "air mail" from the USA?
ReplyDeleteI still enjoy going to the mailbox for "real" mail...especially when it's not a bill.
P.S. Be sure to post a picture of your mittens when you get them knitted!
Very cool for sure! :)
ReplyDeleteI still write a few snail mails as some of my older relatives don't have computers plus I write my Mom twice a week when we aren't down visiting her. I try to buy the special stamps that are being featured ... to make the envelope look more interesting. I too collected stamps as a kid and still have them. I can't resist saving a stamp myself and have a drawer full of them ... even though I never get around to doing anything with them!
ReplyDeleteRuth--I too remember the aerograms--the only way for me to communicate with my parents while they were in Rhodesia and I was here.
ReplyDeleteNow, with our daughter in London, I am so grateful for email--instant communication to know she is doing well.
So I guess I come down on the side of prefering email, only because it is so quick.
I adore writing letters, more so then email. Somehow letters seem more personal and important. the people I write to though tend to email me back, so I don't write many letters. I admit, I like getting them as much as I like sending them.
ReplyDeleteI use to have a penpal but haven't for a couple years now, I wish I still did. Want a letter from me? ;-) I don't know your address though...
RuthieJ- I will get organized to start the mittens. I have never knitted on 3 needles before, but the instructions look clear. Maybe the letter went by air somewhere else first.
ReplyDeleteMonarch- Yes, your were a recipient of Ruthie's mailings too, I believe.
CS- It is fun buying special stamps. I am really out of practise when it comes to writing letters. Editing isn't as easy as on the computer.
KGMom- I would hate to have to go back to snail mail to keep in touch with my family. But letters still have sentimental value to me.
Jaspenelle- You really belong to another generation! :-)
(that is not a criticism, but a complement) I will have to send you my address.
Thanks for the memory of those blue aerograms. We never got one that I know of but my mother would send them, to far flung relatives (UK, NZ) that she never met. No letters for me anymore, just email and not too much of that either. There was a time before blogs when I corresponded quite a lot by email.
ReplyDeleteRuth,
ReplyDeletePersonal letters are such fun to receive. I don't get them often, nor do I send them often. It's a little sad that we have given up this beautiful way of corresponding. I'm so glad your letter brightened your day.
Please drop by my blog. I have an award for you. Enjoy!!!
Blessings,
Mary
AC- Yes, even email is giving way to blogs and Facebook type applications as the preferred way to communicate. The US postal service has apparently discontinued aerograms.
ReplyDeleteMary from ON- Centuries of letter writing tradition will likely be gone in a few years. I guess that's progress.