Sitting on many peoples mantle pieces and kitchen shelves, pined to note boards around the country are hand written letters on personalised stationery from people they love, respect and adore. We don’t keep pictures of texts, we don’t printout emails and place them in such prominent areas of our homes for everyone to see, so why do we feel the need to keep these bits of paper? They can be a whole essay of a handwritten letter on writing paper that’s personalised, sending love and advice or just a few sentences thanking people on correspondence cards, but we keep them. We treasure them and keep them for years, sometimes even a lifetime. They’re personal, considered and hand written something an email, text, or tweet can never be. It’s this enduring power of literacy correspondence that has seen sales of personalised writing paper and personalised correspondence cards increase so much over the last few years. Personalised letters and correspondence cards are enjoying a renaissance, no one fails to be impressed by a handwritten note.
Handwriting is something we rarely share with others these days. In a world where communications happen in a flash and at the touch of a button, handwriting has become something to be treasured. It reveals part of a person that we don’t often see these days. The style, the size, even the colour of ink used tells us so much about the person before we even start to read their personalised handwritten letter.
It’s that personal touch, the fact that someone has taken the time to find
the paper, get a pen, write a personal message and then send it to someone by
post or even hand delivered. When
writing something you can’t just hit the delete button when you get the
spelling wrong, or decide the tone isn’t right. You have to think in advance
about what you are writing and it’s that extra thought that makes all the
difference. Personal hand written letters are so much better for that. From the
heart and the reader then responds in a much more positive way. Personalised
stationery adds to that truly special look and feel of a handwritten letter,
making it become something to be treasured and kept safe. The fact that someone
has personalised writing paper says so much about that person. And then they’ve
gone and sent a letter to you – you just feel so special.
The paper personalised stationery is printed on is a heavy weight, something
we don’t touch and feel as much anymore in everyday life. The texture on our
finger tips, the weight of the paper, so much thicker than printer paper, it
all add to that extra special touch. The print is often raised, or embossed,
which means it can also be felt, giving something tactile to associate with the
writer.
They can be private, personal and often intimate. “This is not a letter but
my arms around you for a brief moment” – Katherine Mansfield. Social media
can’t do that!
Writing a letter takes effort in even sending it. You can’t just click a
button and it’s there. You have to get an envelope and one that will fit your
writing paper. A stamp needs to be bought and then the letter has to be posted.
And then it’ll take about of 24 hours to get to your recipient. All that needs
thinking about, prepared for. You need to say the right things in that ever so
precious letter you’re writing.
If you love letter writing you’re in good company.
Apparently Diana, Princess of Wales always wrote thank you letters promptly and
with beautiful handwriting. Tony Blair also saw the benefit of writing letters,
he could see the PR benefits of putting pen to paper. Ronald Reagan too, he
used to write regularly to his wife, Nancy, who later allowed the letters to be
published in a book called I Love You, Ronnie.
"I wake filled with thoughts of you. Your portrait and the intoxicating
evening spent yesterday have left my senses in turmoil. Sweet, incomparable
Josephine," wrote Napoleon to his wife Josephine. If Napoleon was alive
today – he wouldn’t send a Facebook message with something so personal on it.
Get writing your own letters to people who mean the world to you and get the right personalised stationery to express yourself with us here at The Letter Press of Cirencester. If you need some inspiration take a look at the Letters Live website, it highlights some of the worlds most famous people and their letters read superbly by some of the best actors in the UK.
