There are lots of reasons why we write letters – or at least have written them in the past. Though I reckon, even today with email and social media, there’s sometimes still official need for us to write a letter. In fact, only a couple of years ago, this article from the Writing Cooperative lists lots of good reasons why writing is still important.
As they say, we build many modern relationships around convenience. Because of that, it’s rare now for us to sit down and engage with friends for extended periods. So, building good relationships is a good argument for taking the time to sit down, pick up a pen and write a letter. I won’t go into all the details – you can read the article for yourself, but other reasons they give are:
· Helping you to practice your craft · Being authentic · Keeping your handwriting up to scratch
Writing Letters in Times of Crisis
It’s pretty hard to avoid the fact that we’re in the middle of an unprecedented situation with this Covid-19 pandemic. And it’s got me thinking about what letters might have been written in other times of crisis – like war. It’s a sort of war we’re engaged in now – but against a virus not a nation.
There’s an excellent and fascinating website – well more a repository to be honest – called Shapell.Org It contains dozens and dozens of historical letters written on every subject you can imagine. If you’re stuck for something to do then I reckon you could lose an hour or several here with no bother at all. I’ve been having a bit of a root though it and like this letter written by Ike Eisenhower to his wife Marnie on December 26 1943 when he’s away on active service. At this point he’d only been the Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Forces for two days – though he didn’t bother to tell his wife about this promotion. You can read all the background to the letter – and the full letter itself here: https://www.shapell.org/manuscript/ww2-general-eisenhower-letter-to-wife-mamie/
But my favourite bit about the letter is when he thanks his wife for the gift of a Parker Pen:
‘The reason I wanted the Parker Pen was because Mr. Parker has written to me twice about them. I have lost no pens (except one taken from my desk in Naples) - but I felt I should be able to answer Mr. Parker intelligently when he writes again.’
I’m drawn to this because, like many people of a certain age, Parker pens have a special resonance. In our family that brand of pen does for sure. My brother Vernon received a Parker pen set, from our dad, for passing his ‘A’ levels in 1970. The set contained a fountain pen and a ballpoint engraved with his name. Alas the ballpoint went missing but Vernon still has and still uses the fountain pen. Pretty good for a 50-year-old pen eh? I reckon Eisenhower would be impressed by that don’t you?
Vernon Webb's 50 year old Parker pen
I’ve had lots of people come to my stand when I’m selling at the Bath Artisan Market (not at the moment, alas!) who take enormous pleasure in showing me their Parker pen that they were given for their 18th or 21st birthday or graduation. I love seeing these pens and chatting to their owners about the stories contained in their pens.
As a penmaker quality and something special is what I aim to bring to every pen that I make. A Simon Webb pen is something to treasure – an heirloom for our times if you like – and a story for future generations.
But returning to historical letters for a moment. If you could write a letter to a historical figure who would that be? And why? What would you write about?
I would love to know. Drop me an email at mailto:sales@simon-webb.co.uk Or even better – pick up a pen and write to me at: Simon Webb, 71 Holbein Field, Grange Park, Swindon SN5 6DP, I would love to hear from you.
One of my favourite local artists is Dona Bradley. Like me, she’s also based in Swindon and draws beautiful pictures of local landmarks. In her Swindon collection are the Steam Museum, the Richard Jefferies Museum, Lydiard House and the Town Gardens, all places I’ve made pens and cufflinks for! So, I’ll pick my favourite email/letter and send that person a set of 4 beautifully illustrated cards!
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A gunmetal and platinum plated ballpoint in Japanese Plane from the Pocock tree at Christ Church College, Oxford, England. Also know as the Jabberwocky tree, it is said that this tree was the inspiration for Lewis Carroll's poem. A classic pen with elegant lines, this pen is beautifully weighted and...
A gunmetal and platinum plated ballpoint in rainbow wood, layers of birch dyed and laminated together to make a very striking pen. This pen is beautifully weighted and uses a reliable twist mechanism. It comes with a Parker-style G2, medium width refill with black ink, refills are also available in different...
A high quality Schmidt Safety ceramic rollerball refill available in three different writing widths (also available in different colours, please enquire for further details). This refill fits all our rollerball pens.
