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| Girl pondering over what to write... |
But first, my breakfast tray this morning:
"Polonaise" by Noritake. (See previous post.) This was the china served at Kellynch Hall in the TV movie "Persuasion." I loved it so much I had to have breakfast with it this morning. The blue pattern is stunning; the pictures don't do it justice:
*sigh* Now on to my post:
Letters. I still maintain I was born in the wrong century. Being a writer, I LOVE the whole letter-writing thing. Granted, reading said letters from the Regency period require a class on Paleography (in my humble opinion), but I just LOVE they way they did it!
Letters were the primary form of communication, when there was any distance between parties. From JaneAustin.co.uk: "Before 1840 various factors affected the cost of posting a letter. They included the distance involved, the weight, whether there was anything enclosed, whether paid for on despatch or receipt, and whether it was a single or a double sheet. The postage was usually paid by the person who received the letter, not by the sender."
And how were letters sent? Prior to 1845, hand-made envelopes were all that were available for use. And people didn't want to waste their time making an envelope, with the cost of paper being so expensive, so people got creative:
This is an example of a letter (goodness this person had rather a lot to say!), and after written it was folded nicely into a smaller letter that could be sealed and mailed.
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| *photo courtesy of HerReputationForAccomplishment.wordpress.com |
Or people just folded like so and sealed it up.
AND HOW COOL IS WAX SEALING??? Oh my. I love that they did that. It was for security, identification, and frankly, it was just wayyy cool. I still have a box of writing implements I bought two decades ago, when I was in an "old letter writing" phase. I wanted to see how it worked so I bought a pen, ink, parchment, sealing wax, wax stamp, etc., and had SO much fun.
I had to see what all the fuss was about. I wrote letters to my parents, brother, sister and best friend, but sadly, none of them could be mailed the way they were. So, I gave up. But what a fun experiment!
Sometimes I long for a simpler time, when to write and receive letters was a source of joy, comfort, news and information. Nowadays I pull out my handy phone and text anyone I want. Instantly.
Where is the fun in that?
