by Athena Brady

Created on: December 30, 2009

In the past the main way people communicated was, through letter writing. If people received a present they would respond with a thank you note. Children were encouraged to develop friendships through writing to pen pals. People wrote to their relatives and friends to tell them about what was happening in their lives. People in romantic relationships wrote to their partners to keep their relationships alive, when they were apart.

Often people took great care and attention when writing their letters. They used good quality paper some, decorated with art or beautiful flowers etc. Some used expensive fountain pens and practised their writing so it was neat and presentable. If you look at the writing of older people in particular, often the letters are well formed and have an artistic slant. When resources were scarce, like in war time, the men in the trenches, on ships etc. used whatever was at hand for writing paper.

In the past writing was the cheapest form of communication. As not everyone, was lucky enough to be able to afford a telephone. Normally, there would be someone in your block, street who had a telephone you could use in times of emergency. However, for terms of just catching up or if you wanted privacy there was a public telephone people could use. These were expensive at first and they would of course, be in demand so were not ideal. Most people preferred to write a letter because it was more secure and didn't cost a lot of money for a stamp.

So what has happened to the forgotten art of letter writing ? One of the main reasons letter writing is not as popular as it once was, is that our culture has changed and evolved over the past few decades.

Most people now have a telephone in their own home and using them is less expensive as it once was. The advantage of a telephone call is that it is much more personal. People are able to connect on an intimate level and hear each others voices. Also any questions are answered instantly and news such as births, deaths, is given very quickly. Some people can see each other as they speak, if they have a phone with this facility.

The introduction of mobile phones have meant we are now all contactable, no matter where we are. Although this method of communication was initially expensive, contract phones are now available. This means that people can have an agreed amount of minutes and texts at a much lower cost. Texts messages are relatively cheap but the cost is significantly lower within a agreed contract.

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