Several weeks ago my Aunt Veda loaned me her copy of the Wright County Historical Book. It contains family articles, pictures and historical information about Wright county. Very informative and interesting but inside the pages I found a letter that my Mom had written to Grandpa/Grandma Bear and Aunt Betty's family in December 1961. At that time we had recently moved to Springfield, Illinois from Hutchinson, Kansas. Mom tells about the house we lived in, getting settled, the weather, and family matters. There is nothing of real historical value but it does give some insight to the daily lives of the Campbell family at that time. I didn't realize we had no TV at that time.
Several times in this blog post I have quoted from letters that Mom saved or wrote to family members. Finding this latest letter written by Mom reminded me that letter writing is becoming a lost art. Think about it. How many letters have you received in the mailbox the last few weeks? I'm guessing not very many. Today it is much simpler to call on the cell phone, tweet, twitter, face book, e-mail, etc. Those are all very convenient I suppose but in my opinion have very little historical value. We may save our electronic correspondence but how accessible will it be in 25, 40, 50 years? Some time ago I read the book "Truman" by David McCullough. Somewhere in the book it was mentioned that President Truman was in office at the peak time of written correspondence. Family letters written by Truman gave insight to his personality as well as family doings. Memos gave information about decisions made. After his term in office much of the Presidential correspondence began to be replaced by newer, electronic, less accesible media.
So, what does this have to do with anything? As trivial and ho-hum as it may seem there is a value in letters. Right now it may not seem like much, but letters I send to my family will tell my children, grandchildren and great grandchildren a little bit of what life was like, "back in the olden days". Writing about weather, going to ballgames, yardwork, etc. may get boring but somewhere in all of that there may be a spark of information that tells a little bit about who I am. I know I treasure letters, poems, etc. I find written by my Mom or Dad.
I've included in this blog some envelopes/stamps/postmarks from some old envelopes I have. My Grandma Bear gave me her stamp collection when getting rid of some of her things. She had received a lot of her collection from Dr. J.M. Brooks. The postcard is an advertisement he received from a medical company. Dr. Brooks is of no personal importance to me but it does show a little bit of what life was like in the late 1800's and early 1900's.
The special delivery envelope did not contain the letter, but it does show some interesting information.
If you are not into letter writing, let me at least encourage you to save letters that you receive. Many years from now they will remind you of friends, family, things you did and maybe bring a smile to your face or kindle treasured memories. -30-
