Writing cases used to be ten a penny back in the day. For those of you too young to remember, they would hold a pad of writing paper (Lion Brand embossed of course!) in the main section, with pockets for envelopes, stamps, blotting paper and a holder for your pen (slimline fountain, naturally). All designed to take with you on your travels so you could write home about your exploits.
All evocative of a bygone era. Long before emails and facebook. When twitter was the sound a bird would make on a sunny spring morning; and a text was a large volume of printed, erm, text. Handwriting was an art in itself and to have good handwriting was kudos. I remember practicing for hours as a child. Using finger spacing when I was very (very) young. Then as I grew older I remember how grown up I felt when I was allowed to use "joined up" writing for the first time. Again I would spend hours perfecting my "loops", being careful to have a piece of blotting paper under my hand so as not to smudge my fountain pen ink as I went. I was a bit of a perfectionist with my handwriting. I used to receive comments on it regularly. "Oh what beautiful handwriting you have", "look how it flows", "so unusual for a young person...."
These days my handwriting is a pale echo of what it was. Why? I'm out of practice. Simple as that. These days, really, when do we actually need to WRITE anything. I don't mean scribble down a shopping list, or jot down a few ideas. I mean a letter. An essay. Something that will be given to someone else to read. Something that we'd have to take care over not only in terms of what it says, but in how it looks too. The other day I had to sign some paperwork. I even had to think twice now how to sign my name. Like I've forgotten how my signature goes. A few years back I'd sign mountains of paperwork on a daily basis without a second thought.
Everything is so automated these days. We don't sign cheques or credit card receipts any more. We have pin numbers and online shopping for that. We type blog posts and emails. We punch in texts and tweets on our phones. When you really think about it, we put pen to paper so rarely these days. In an era when we are actively embracing "handmade" is "handwritten" actually obsolete? Would it even matter? They say for instance, you can tell alot about a person from their handwriting. Can you tell as much about them from what font they choose on Word?! Is that the modern equivalent of graphology?
I for one, can't decide. I love handwriting but tend to opt for typing because it's quicker. I would tear my hair out without the convenience of "delete" and "cut & paste" when writing my blog posts and emails. I can't remember the last time I wrote a letter. So this little leather case, made just for writing, has got me thinking ( can you tell? ;) Has handwriting had it's day? Will biros ever cease to be manufactured?
Of course I could always use this lovely vintage writing case for a brand spanking new tablet instead of a writing pad....hmmmm...a bit of online shopping coming on methinks....;)
That's a beautiful case, please don't use it on a tablet!
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting you're comparing the handmade to the handwritten. I'm coming to think that the typed word is almost an equivalent to rtw: standardised, projecting an image of what is "correct" or acceptable. Partly because it's always published.
Whereas nowadays handwritten is so private and intensely personal...you plan, scribble furiously, or very deliberately when you're pensive. It's such a strong means of expressing who you are.
Is that a bit of a loopy idea? Do you think it's valid?
You can draw a lot of parallels...but
I'm typing on a smartphone and feel a bit of a hypocrite!
I would much prefer a staples voucher than perfume! I never wear perfume, so I would be totally wasted on me:D
ReplyDeleteAnd, I hand write almost everything first, slower, but the creative juices flow better!
Anyway, great find!!!
Freya May
thedressmakingdiaries.blogspot.com
What a fantastic post! And that little writing case is a gem (picture me green with envy). I love stationery. I have so many letter writing sets from when I was younger, I rather collected them. I had quite a few pen friends. I miss the days of letters. They were so much better thought out than an email some how. An email never gives me the same feeling as a personal letter coming through my door. The smile you give when you recognise the writing, or the fun of guessing who it's from if you don't. They were so much more personal, the senders personality somehow pouring from the page. I keep meaning to start writing letters again, but I think this computer driven/automated age has made us lazy. Thats the truth. Everything is so easily done at the touch of a button, and while the outcome may be mostly the same, I feel much is lost along the way. :( I think the RTW/handmade comparison has much validity.
ReplyDeleteI love to write by hand and remember finger spacing too! I still get comments on my hand writing and prefer to use a fountain pen. My Waterman is full of a tropical ocean blue ink!
ReplyDeleteConfession time . . . . we have a laundry cupboard upstairs, you know the kind, it is used for towels, bedding etc. It is quite a size - a walk-in in fact. And guess what. Hubby and I use it as a stationery cupboard! We keep spare printer paper, little notebooks, Post-It notes etc, and is smells lovely! Our friends think we are rather strange - but it works for us!
ReplyDeleteOh, and the writing case - I have one from my early teens (very similar to yours in fact) - about 30years ago and no, I could not bear to get rid of it!
Also totally obsessed with stationary! OMG. What an amazing find! Your post will have me dreaming of fountain pens and leather notebooks now.
ReplyDeleteI love stationery and my favourite pastime when I was young was swooning over the stationery section in Woolworths! At my grammar school, work wasn't marked unless it was written in fountain pen, which made me a loyal fountain pen user, now sadly lapsed. If I could find a foolproof way of stopping them leaking in my bag I'd still use them. I really try to write as much as I can but I'm ashamed to say I haven't written a proper letter for ages. When I was at university, there was only an emergency phone in my halls of residence so all correspondence with family and friends was done by letter. I really wish I'd kept them all, they'd be so precious now! Weirdly, I still write all my blog posts in a notebook first before typing them up., so maybe that's my way of hanging on to writing as a lost art! Great post, hope you find a good use for your lovely writing set. X
ReplyDeleteI wanted to buy a writing case for my little brother when I moved away to encourage him to write me letters, but I couldn't find one that was affordable. I was so disappointed to see that they're no longer common. And now you have me wanting one for the blog notebook I carry with me!
ReplyDeleteI'm right with you about the stationery / Staples voucher. It used to be pretty even-Stephen whether I more enjoyed the tactile and visual pleasures associated with embroidery and cross-stitch or those associated with writing letters: a good (fine) pen, pretty paper, the physical enjoyment of forming words on the page(s). I write the very occasional letter these days, generally to introduce myself to a distant family member I want to know who doesn't do computers. I've yet to receive a letter in return. I'm sad to say my handwriting has deteriorated as well. I still prefer paper planners to computerised ones and if I need to brainstorm ideas, a paper and pen are always my first choice. I'm sure you'll find a way to put that writing case to good use!
ReplyDeleteCowhide is a type of leather of course, but not all leather is cowhide. :)
ReplyDeleteI write letters to my MIL, mostly by hand, as it gives her much pleasure - also she is very deaf and my voice is hard for her to hear over the phone so we enjoy the old fashioned art of exchanging letters. Knowing that whatever we share is simply between us is far more liberating than having to consider a much wider online audience!
I know what you mean about getting rusty though - I sign my name more than most being MD of my company in an industry that can still be pretty paper based, but still not often and I do have to stop and think at times.
I am quite envious of our writing compendium - I keep mine in a box that started off as a writing set of Shakespeare themed paper, present from a friend, and I love collecting fun stationery to tickle Sylvia the MIL, like the tacky holly surrounded Christmas stuff.
I find that writing to a person with my own hand adds a little extra sense of connection to them than typing does. Maybe this year I will add a couple of others to my list of correspondees!
You go, Lois!!!
What a lovely writing case. It's beautifully made. My handwriting was never lovely but I used a fountain pen long for years longer than my contemporaries.
ReplyDeleteI use to love buying new pens, pads, folders etc for the school year. It was a highlight because things got cheaper and I could but more!
Even now I find it hard to curb my spending but I really don'tneed half of it so get my fix just touching in the shops!
As for signing my name... I find it really hard. I've not been married that long and I wasn't one of those brides so spent months perfecting herupted signature :-D I find it quite difficult signing, especially if I'm under pressure!
I stumbled on your blog through http://sozowhatdoyouknow.blogspot.com/ and I was so delighted to see that you are in love with stationery also. I used to write to about a dozen pen friends even up through the mid-1990s...and then everyone got a computer. But I still have a stash of new and vintage papers that I just can't part with. I keep them in a vintage escritoire in my sewing room. I always had nice handwriting but I think it has deteriorated since I'm not writing all day long anymore in classes. My fitting notes for alterations look a fright! (I like to think of it as secret code. haha). Perhaps you could re-post when you fill your writing case with beautiful stationery?
ReplyDelete--Margaret