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Thread: What do you do with your old letters?

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    Senior Member AzJon's Avatar
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    Default What do you do with your old letters?

    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?

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    Senior Member VertOlive's Avatar
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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    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

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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    Quote Originally Posted by VertOlive View Post
    "What is a VertOlive and why do they seem to be discussing crows and barbecue?"


    Are you me?

    I need to hide messages in books at the library...

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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    After a while I feed them to my shredder.....

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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    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

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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    Quote Originally Posted by FredRydr View Post
    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
    So do you mean my letters that I have sent...or my letters that I have received? Do I need to sign my letters properly with my full name, just in case?

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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    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.

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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    Quote Originally Posted by FredRydr View Post
    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
    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.

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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    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..).

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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    Quote Originally Posted by FredRydr View Post
    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
    Then I'll be famous for English Bulldogs and rattlesnakes, I suppose. Or become the center of the next DaVinci Code, chase the VertOlive clues bestseller.
    "Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine

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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    Quote Originally Posted by VertOlive View Post

    Then I'll be famous for English Bulldogs and rattlesnakes, I suppose. Or become the center of the next DaVinci Code, chase the VertOlive clues bestseller.
    and turkeys
    sinistral hypergraphica - a slurry of ink
    "Nothing means less than zero"

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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    Quote Originally Posted by AzJon View Post
    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?
    You can scan and upload it to Pen Agora as part of "My Collection" feature. Just an idea
    - Will
    Unique and restored vintage pens: Redeem Pens

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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    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.

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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bisquitlips View Post
    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.
    that's funny to me

    I promise all my pen pals that I'm not putting their letters on my walls!

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    Senior Member VertOlive's Avatar
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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    Quote Originally Posted by Bogon07 View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by VertOlive View Post

    Then I'll be famous for English Bulldogs and rattlesnakes, I suppose. Or become the center of the next DaVinci Code, chase the VertOlive clues bestseller.
    and turkeys
    No longer, I'm afraid. Here in Texas it's just the rattlesnakes...
    "Nolo esse salus sine vobis ...” —St. Augustine

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    Senior Member AzJon's Avatar
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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    Quote Originally Posted by penwash View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by AzJon View Post
    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?
    You can scan and upload it to Pen Agora as part of "My Collection" feature. Just an idea
    Ooohhhhh....good idea, Will!

    Quote Originally Posted by Bisquitlips View Post
    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.
    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!

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    Default Re: What do you do with your old letters?

    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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