# When was the last time that you wrote a letter? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 19, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484 "2011-05-19T18:18:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/1 "2011-05-19T18:18:28Z")
On the radio this morning, I heard an author bemoaning the end of letter writing. IHHO, this is the end of an era (that’s lasted for millenia) and signifies a tragic loss of history for us all. He may have been overly dramatic but it got me to thinking, I cannot remember the last letter that I wrote. What about you? Email obviously doesn’t count and I’d like to exclude postcards and greeting cards as well. When was the last time that you put pen to paper, stuck the letter in an envelope and put it in the mailbox? Poll coming. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/2 "2011-05-19T18:36:23Z")
Last time was when my mother-in-law’s mom died around a year ago (might have been a bit longer but close enough to 1). Email didn’t seem like it would cut it. ---
**Author:** ![Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimmy_Gibbler)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/3 "2011-05-19T18:41:05Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > On the radio this morning, I heard an author bemoaning the end of letter writing. IHHO, this is the end of an era (that’s lasted for millenia) and signifies a tragic loss of history for us all. He may have been overly dramatic but it got me to thinking, I cannot remember the last letter that I wrote. > > What about you? Email obviously doesn’t count and I’d like to exclude postcards and greeting cards as well. When was the last time that you put pen to paper, stuck the letter in an envelope and put it in the mailbox? > > Poll coming. Why should email be excluded? It certainly seems to be essentially epistolary in form. Sure it doesn’t involve a pen or paper, but if that’s our standard, we shouldn’t talk about the milennia-old existence of letter-writing considering that we no longer use cunieform or styli or papyrus. Some might say that email is more impermanent. But if had to hazard a guess, I think that my gmails about my weekend plans are going to exist in retrieveable form for a much longer time than my letter to the city contesting my parking ticket earlier this week. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/4 "2011-05-19T18:41:21Z")
Last December. We had such a pleasant experience at the Wynn Las Vegas that I was moved to write Steve Wynn and compliment him on his hotel and staff. We now have a host and a free room for a few days next month. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![cjepson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a9adbd/32.png) [@cjepson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cjepson)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/5 "2011-05-19T18:50:19Z")
I write letters to a few old friends every Christmas, so 5 months ago. (Not those photocopied “Christmas letters” – these are _handwritten,_ I’ll have you know.) ---
**Author:** ![SciFiSam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/47e85d/32.png) [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/6 "2011-05-19T18:58:54Z")
I clicked ‘more than five years ago’ because I’m sure you mean personal letters. I’ve written plenty of business letters in the last few years. The last personal letter was in 1996, when I was living abroad and didn’t have much access to phones and not many people I knew had email. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/7 "2011-05-19T19:02:52Z")
> [@Kimmy\_Gibbler](#): > > Why should email be excluded? It certainly seems to be essentially epistolary in form. Sure it doesn’t involve a pen or paper, but if that’s our standard, we shouldn’t talk about the milennia-old existence of letter-writing considering that we no longer use cunieform or styli or papyrus. I don’t know. Email just seems more impersonal IMHO. I guess this thread is just about nostalgia. If I asked “When was the last time that you listened to a record?”, I assume that wouldn’t ask why CD’s were excluded. ---
**Author:** ![gwendee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@gwendee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gwendee)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/8 "2011-05-19T19:05:26Z")
Writing letters is one of my very favorite things to do. I have pen pals. I write to relatives. ---
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/9 "2011-05-19T19:29:28Z")
1. I went out and bought some nice stationary and wrote one letter. I eventually threw out the rest of the stationary. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/10 "2011-05-19T20:04:27Z")
I vaugely remember writing a letter to a roommate I had at track camp back in '98 before either of us had emails, he wrote me first. I did it once hated it and haven’t wanted to write out a letter since. ---
**Author:** ![Minnie\_Luna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4bbf92/32.png) [@Minnie\_Luna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Minnie_Luna)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/11 "2011-05-19T20:23:30Z")
In my capacity as the Secretary on the board of a non-profit, I would hand-write thank-you notes for certain donations. Most often I just used a standard typed letter and would insert the donors information in a database that then inserted the necessary information into the correct slot. > [@](#): > > Dear (insert name), > > Thank you so much for your (insert date) donation of (insert amount). Your donation is tax-deductible and our tax ID number is XXX. Blah, blah, blah etc. > > Sincerely, > Secretary Minnie Luna. We often had families who would ask that in lieu of flowers donations be made to our organization after a loved one died. In those cases, I \*\*always \*\* hand wrote a letter to the family thanking them for thinking of us in their time of grief. I would also include a list of people who donated in memory of their loved one so that if they wanted to personally thank those people they could. Often I would also make a phone call to the family to let them know how much we appreciated their gift. Also if we received a large donation or something out of the ordinary, I would write a letter along with the enclosed form letter. Anytime a child donated $$ or a cub scout or girl scout group had a food drive, they got a hand written thank you. ---
**Author:** ![Faelyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c77e96/32.png) [@Faelyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Faelyn)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/12 "2011-05-19T20:25:52Z")
One of my best friends just moved back home, a few hours away from me, and I wanted to send her something to cheer her up. So this is what my letter said: Hey! I miss you. -Meagan. And about a fourth of cup of heart sprinkles thrown in 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 8:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/13 "2011-05-19T20:35:50Z")
I write a couple of letters a month, to pretty much anyone who will give me their address. I even make my own letterhead. But, to be honest, my handwriting is terrible so I generally type them up on one manual typewriter or another. People don’t seem to mind - several times, friends have mentioned enjoying the way the old typewriter “embossed” the page. I’d say one in 5 letters sent out gets a snail mail response, which is the best part. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/14 "2011-05-19T20:45:09Z")
I pretty much stopped all letter writing around 2003. In fact, December 2003 is the last letter I remember sitting down to write. I do believe I’ve written postcards since then, but an actual honest-to-goodness letter? Not since then. And, at that time even, it was pretty rare for anyone to write letters. I used to be a pretty regular letter writer, but even by the late 90s, that form of communication was rapidly becoming extinct. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/15 "2011-05-19T20:46:15Z")
My grandparents lent me some money, and I paid them back every month for about 3 years. I wrote a 2-or-3-page typed letter about what was up with me and stuff (I typed it because - surprise! - my handwriting stinks, and they are old). They enjoyed the letters so much that I wrote them a few more in the next year or so, until last year. I might write to them again, I don’t know. I do see my grandparents about 10 times a year, they only live an hour and a half away. But they so love getting letters, it’s the least I can do. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/16 "2011-05-19T20:55:37Z")
I put other because there was no option for “I’ve never written a letter”. I’m 33. Sure, I’ve written long, personal, emails–and a few times typed something up and mailed it–but I’ve never hand-written a personal note to someone. In fact, I haven’t hand-written anything more than a sentence or two long since I was in college. And even then, only under duress (like exams with essay portions). I haven’t handwritten anything by personal volition since grade school. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/17 "2011-05-19T21:08:39Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > I put other because there was no option for “I’ve never written a letter”. I’m 33. > > Sure, I’ve written long, personal, emails–and a few times typed something up and mailed it–but I’ve never hand-written a personal note to someone. In fact, I haven’t hand-written anything more than a sentence or two long since I was in college. And even then, only under duress (like exams with essay portions). I haven’t handwritten anything by personal volition since grade school. I actually meant to include a “Never” option but I panicked when I had to come up with the poll options. ---
**Author:** ![Morbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morbo/32/389_2.png) [@Morbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morbo)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/18 "2011-05-19T21:10:45Z")
My nieces like getting hand-written letters and are into word searches, so I write letters to them and throw in a hand-written word search. If it weren’t for them, we’re talking late 80’s. For my wife it would be thank-you cards for our wedding, ten years ago. ---
**Author:** ![TheTerribleTako](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ba8739/32.png) [@TheTerribleTako](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheTerribleTako)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/19 "2011-05-19T23:36:38Z")
I exchange letters with a friend of mine. We both enjoy receiving mail that’s not junk mail or bills and it gives us both an excuse to buy silly stationary. ---
**Author:** ![Valgard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Valgard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Valgard)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2011, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484/20 "2011-05-19T23:56:14Z")
A few weeks ago, it was a love letter to my wonderful g/f. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-was-the-last-time-that-you-wrote-a-letter/582484.md?page=2)