Do you keep them? File them away by Penpal last name? Toss them after a while?
I've now got a pile of letters taking up space and I"m not sure what to do with them.
What do you reckon?
Do you keep them? File them away by Penpal last name? Toss them after a while?
I've now got a pile of letters taking up space and I"m not sure what to do with them.
What do you reckon?
Some people actually scan them into a computer file.
Others use various filing systems.
I like to tear out occasional swatches (minus any identifying information) and hide them in books before returning them to the library or selling them. I like to imagine people wondering "What is a VertOlive and why do they seem to be discussing crows and barbecue?"
"Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine
AzJon (May 20th, 2017), Dreck (May 23rd, 2017), fountainpenkid (May 21st, 2017), Jon Szanto (June 14th, 2017), Lady Onogaro (May 21st, 2017), Sailor Kenshin (June 14th, 2017)
VertOlive (May 22nd, 2017)
After a while I feed them to my shredder.....
AzJon (May 22nd, 2017)
I had been scanning them all and posting them on the internet until the N.S.A. rang me to ask that I use use better resolution images.
Just kidding.
Just remember that much of non-fiction is based on preserved written correspondence. Think of the many volumes on library shelves based upon letters between Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, or Virginia Woolf and Vita Sackville-West. Just what will you keep for posterity? Your letters might be what makes you famous! (Posthumously.)
Fred
Depends on my relationship to the sender.
I have a wide range of ways of handling letters. I have letters in boxes in more than one place in my house (not hidden), I throw some out, I keep some in a file, I keep some on my desk in chronological order of receipt in order to respond to them in a timely manner, I occasionally cull....etc.
I have only rarely (fewer than five times) kept a copy of my own personal correspondence.
AzJon (May 22nd, 2017)
It's true, though by the time my letters are discovered and cause my historical infamy, they may need a paleographer to read it. Encountered my first Cantcursive mailman on Friday. Had a letter addressed entirely in (very legible) cursive. Poor guy guessed my address by sort of piecing it together. Fortunately I was out front and able to assist.
Quite the surprise, I must say.
I know it isn't always possible to keep letters, but I try. If I had to cull them, I would shred the letters from people I no longer write to, first. I am thinking about digitising them.
Don't forget to save the stamps - they can be given to stamp collecting friends, or passed on to various charities (separate thread on here..).
AzJon (June 29th, 2017)
I keep them all if they are handwritten!
You can actually age them with tea and tie them up with ribbons. They make nice decor items.
Ooohhhhh....good idea, Will!
I've never tried that with tea. Works well with diluted walnut ink and a spray bottle (like for eye-glass cleaner). Makes the paper look well aged.
Sorry for not replying sooner! Been busy and away from the forum!
I burnt them on the new year's eve following the break-up. I thought it would help to start the new year with a clean slate. It felt good at the time.
But now, many years later, I wish I could read them again.
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