I’ve always been a letter writer. Ever since I could hold a pen and form sentences, words flowed from me. At summer camp as a 9-year-old, I mailed long, newsy missives to my parents and classmates, detailing the shenanigans of my fellow campers and counselors. Adorning the envelopes with hand drawn hearts, stars, and flowers, utilizing different colored pens and markers, maybe adding a spray of Luv’s Baby Soft, it sparked joy in my creative, young mind to make each one uniquely special. Every week at mail call I listened expectantly for my name, excitedly racing forward to collect my haul of incoming responses.
And oh, the variety! Nancy sent me a bright pink envelope featuring the fanciest script I’d ever seen – it was calligraphy! My BFF Jayne included newspaper clippings from our local Canarsie Courier, and my cousin Ian sent me a postcard from his family trip to Disneyland! Of particular appeal were all the details, some had hidden messages on the outside like ADIDAS or SWAK, whose secret acronyms were revealed inside (“All Day I Dream About Steven” or “Sealed with a Kiss”), others contained drawings, sticks of gum, or coins used to purchase candy in the canteen. BONUS!
When summer ended and we returned to school, I noticed something was missing – where was the thrill of seeing my name on an incoming envelope? No longer sending or receiving mail, I felt a loss. I mentioned my grief to Mrs. Scherr, my 3rd grade teacher, who offered a quick solution: Start an International Pen Pal Club! She reached out to a colleague working in the Philippines, and shortly thereafter, our class of 30 was paired with our very own correspondents!
Getting Started
To prepare, I got my mom to take me to the mall to get some new stationery, pens, and stickers. Next, I ruminated over how to write my first letter to an unknown recipient. Like any new relationship, introductions must be made, so I set about expounding on my interests (baseball, reading), favorite foods (spaghetti, ice cream), and my family (one each: brother, mother, father, and dog).
Finding my groove, I posed many open-ended questions and followed my ramblings (critical for showcasing your true voice), with a few “What do you thinks” and “Has that ever happened to yous?” in an effort to engage her. Anything to get her writing back soon. I sealed my painstakingly decorated envelope, affixed the international postage (!) and waited…
A few weeks passed and at last, there it was! The postmark (from the Philippines, via PhilPost!), featuring black ink stamping, displaying the location (Quezon City!), date, and time of processing – utterly thrilling! It even included a circular cancellation over the stamp, and a separate, somewhat indistinct secondary postmark indicating the central post office it originated from – POSTAL NERD BLISS!
Back in class, everyone brought their letters to share and read aloud. We traded ideas on fun, creative ways to keep our new friends communicating. Sam presented a challenge to keep things percolating, “Lets send our new bilingual (!) friends our Reading Lists to see if we could start a book exchange, or read the same ones and talk about them in our letters.” Mrs. Scherr urged us to share our summer vacation trips with our pen pals so students across the miles would learn the types of experiences we had on holiday. “I bet we’ll discover many differences AND similarities,” she mused.
These experiences may feel a bit dated, dear readers, as now there are myriad ways to communicate long distances, both analog and digitally. The letter writing landscape has changed (no doubt) and I wondered, “Who’s sending snail mail these days? and Do Pen Pals still exist?” The answer, I’m thrilled to report, is EVERYONE and YES! The pandemic caused a communication shift, and Letter Carriers were busy in 2020 delivering greeting cards, packages, and surprises! Now there’s even an official holiday: National Pen Pal Day is June 1st! It’s clear people still hunger for the personal touch only a handwritten letter can bring.
The next generation has picked up the torch and run with it – a whopping 45% of Gen Z and Millennials regularly use letter-writing supplies like stationery, vintage stamps, pens, ink pads, stickers and this fun new thing called washi tape! They have embraced this “retro” activity and made it cool, hip, and artsy to have a pen pal again.
Generating modern “challenges” to spawn additional correspondence, they introduced a story telling aspect to letter writing: sending lines and passages back and forth, shaping stories together, via post. Imagine receiving a note that reads, “You’re standing in a vacant, overgrown lot, and come across a wrapper with strange writing…” and your job is to keep the story going and send your part back – GENIUS!
What’s Next
It’s wonderful to see so many folks embracing the art of letter writing anew! While my 91-year-old auntie remains my most treasured snail mail generator, I’ve gained some traction with my nieces, nephews, and younger cousins as well. They were quick to point out, however, modern correspondents employ safeguards when finding a pen pal who’s completely unknown to them. Finding a pen pal safely involves using reputable, moderated platforms like:
- GLOBAL PENFREINDS
- POSTCROSSING
- #PENPALSWANTED, using friend finder hashtags on social media
When jumping into the Pen Pal game, we suggest being safe:
- Avoid sharing private information (financial and otherwise)
- Vet potential pen pals through initial online messaging prior to exchanging letters
- Use a PO Box instead of your home address
And if you want to flex your writing skills with us, Allport welcomes you to send a well-decorated snail mail message to: Allport Editions, 716 NE Lawrence Ave, Portland, OR 97232. We’ll write back! It is after all what we do.
Happy Nat ’l Pen Pal Day Y’all😊
Xo
Robin
with 9-year-old me
