The Lost Art of Writing a Note by Hand

There are so many digital platforms through which we interact these days that it’s hardly surprising that we’ve nearly forgotten the most memorable way of all to communicate: with pen and paper. A CBS News poll conducted in 2021 found that less than a third of Americans had hand-written a single personal letter in the previous five years, while the National Literacy Trust last year revealed voluntary creative handwriting among school-age children declined a shocking 61 percent from 2010 to 2024. You don’t need statistics, however, to know that handwriting as a form of human expression is on the way out. All you have to do is look in your mailbox. Amidst all the bills and unwanted flyers, take out menus and daily shit, a handwritten letter is, increasingly, as rare as proverbial rocking horse poo.