Pen Pals?

Ryewolf90 · 24-04-2021, 09:26

Do people still actually write letters to anyone anymore? When I was in my 20's I used to write to many of my friends when I moved from Blackburn to Plymoiuth (at the time I didn't have a landline).

Fast forward to the future would you want your children/grand kids to keep and letters that you received?

Gremlin · 24-04-2021, 10:11

When I was in the forces I had a couple of pen pals who wrote regularly. That was up to the early 60's. Now I have a friend who I worked with in the 60's and 70's and he writes a few times a year. I reply by letter because he doesn't have a PC or fancy iPad or iPhone. Any photos of our times together driving the coaches on tour he photo copies on plain paper and includes them in the letter.

monkey hanger · 24-04-2021, 10:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ryewolf90

Do people still actually write letters to anyone anymore? When I was in my 20's I used to write to many of my friends when I moved from Blackburn to Plymoiuth (at the time I didn't have a landline).

Fast forward to the future would you want your children/grand kids to keep and letters that you received?

would not want em to read them never mind keep them until i died. would hate to have to educate grandchildren on the use of a fountain pen and the reason i never sent or received a text. on top of letters do people still send christmas cards anymore. we send less and receive less every year now and its not because they have died.

DaveinGermany · 24-04-2021, 12:25

Letters not so much, cards at christmas have become fewer. Like Gremlin mentioned, while serving around the 80's-90's the forces had their own local papers in BAOR "Forces weekly echo" & "Sixth sense" could be found scattered around the NAAFI, TocH, YM or Barracks & rest rooms of Germany, within these pages along with, buy & sell, small adds & various other minutae of military existence could be found the "Forces pen pals" section.

These tended to be mainly, but not exquisitly full of young & not so young ladies, but also a few chaps who wanted to correspond with one of her Majes finest soldierly types. Many a young chap took up this marvellous opportunity to ensure an eventful home leave, in various towns & cities throughout the UK & not just with one writer in some cases, in fact one such young chap had a folder full of his varying amorous acquaintances (not me I hasten to add).

Indubitably the accompanying photos of these prospective "Juliets" or the odd "Romeos" in search of Mr/Mrs Right Now usually ended up pinned upon the blocks notice board alongside block rules, fire notices, stag lists, part 1's & 2's, all within their own section fondly referred to as the "wall of shame/fame".

Bob Dobson · 24-04-2021, 15:55

When I was about 13, a girl in our street told me that she had a French pen-pal. I was good at French, so asked if she could find me one. We corresponded for some years and it faded out. I could remember his name and address until not long ago. I think that I benefitted from the experience of those letters.

dotti34 · 24-04-2021, 20:58

I have always enjoyed writing letters and when I was a young thing (just after pens replaced quills) I had six or seven pen-pals (male and female) in various parts of the world. Yes, Dave, a couple of them were soldiers stationed away from home, doing their National Service. One did visit my family and me, came for the weekend. Nice young man but no romantic interest. I got a lot of enjoyment reading first-hand about other people's lives and I hope my letters to them were of a similar enjoyment.

Have to confess I also composed letters for a couple of my friends to send to their boyfriends who were in the forces as they never knew what to write. Talk about Barbara Cartland, I really did the romance bit. Must have worked as the romances continued....

dotti34 · 25-04-2021, 09:23

One of the girls I wrote letters for had only been writing very bland ones (that's how she described them) hence her asking me for help. I remember that after he had received a couple that I wrote, her boyfriend told her how much he was enjoying the lovely romantic letters she had started to write - I think he used the expression 'spiced-up', and that it was like they were from a different person - little did he know...ha ha ha ha.

Bob Dobson · 25-04-2021, 20:15

Quote:

Originally Posted by dotti34

One of the girls I wrote letters for had only been writing very bland ones (that's how she described them) hence her asking me for help. I remember that after he had received a couple that I wrote, her boyfriend told her how much he was enjoying the lovely romantic letters she had started to write - I think he used the expression 'spiced-up', and that it was like they were from a different person - little did he know...ha ha ha ha.

From now on, Dotti, I shall not believe anything you write. PS I love you.

dotti34 · 26-04-2021, 00:35

...and PS I loves you, too, Bob. xxxx

dotti34 · 26-04-2021, 00:37

At least I brought a bit of happiness to those (lonely) lads - and believe you me, they couldn't wait to get home to their girlfriends......enough said!

dotti34 · 26-04-2021, 08:22

One of my penfriends was a young man from Jordan. Can’t recall how we were initially put in touch with each other but we corresponded for quite a while. He wrote really interesting letters. However, one day he asked me how many sheeps (sic) and cows my parents had and when I replied ‘none’ the correspondence sort of fizzled out. My mother said I should ask him how many I needed for a dowry – but I think she was kidding. Well I hope she was….

...anyway he said he was going to America to stay with an uncle and study to be a doctor, mentioned calling to see me on our family estate one day. As the only estate with regard to my family was the Council estate I lived on, it was probably just as well our ‘connection’ ceased.

monkey hanger · 26-04-2021, 09:09

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bob Dobson

When I was about 13, a girl in our street told me that she had a French pen-pal. I was good at French, so asked if she could find me one. We corresponded for some years and it faded out. I could remember his name and address until not long ago. I think that I benefitted from the experience of those letters.

there is a possibility that those letters may have been the best part of the relationship. my daughter had a danish one for a few years in her early teens. this girl spoke very good engligh and visited us when i lived in rugby. picked her up at heathrow airport and they had run out of conversation by the time i got home. was a long 5 days before she went back home trying to find things to do to keep her happy. the only thing she was interested in was my 1947 humber super snipe and going out in it. they never wrote to each other again after those few days.

Less · 26-04-2021, 11:10

Gave up with my penpal when she decided to criticise my grammar and punctuation in her last letter, ye Gods I thought(comma) I may as well go back to posting on AccyWeb!

dotti34 · 26-04-2021, 12:10

Love it, Less. 10 out of 10 for your perfect English, go to the top of the class. Though to be absolutely correct you should really have left a space between 'thought' and '(comma)'.....

Less · 26-04-2021, 12:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by dotti34

Love it, Less. 10 out of 10 for your perfect English, go to the top of the class. Though to be absolutely correct you should really have left a space between 'thought' and '(comma)'.....

Nope, a comma ALWAYS comes with no space as does a full stop etc.

(see me after class).