How do victorians write

The width of the black border would indicate the closeness of the person lost, i. At the time you were expected to have learned how to write straight and even without the use of lines during your education.

Cheap ink that faded quickly was considered very disagreeable and showed a lack of concern for the recipient. Using any color of ink besides black was also considered to be in very bad taste. However, fancy capital letters, curly cues, or other embellishments were seen as too over-the-top and were considered gauche.

In Victorian England letters were delivered by the postal service multiple times per day, enabling people to get same day responses for social events, business affairs, and travel plans. With so many letters flying around having each one dated was critical to good record keeping and again implied that you were a person of your word and not trying to be vague.

For people who may write to each other almost daily for years or months at a time dates were important to keep everything straight. Over the years acceptable stationery went from colored notepaper adorned with flowers, to a heavy, white or cream colored paper. In the mid's monogrammed stationery was popular but was considered unfashionable by the end of the century. Even the most polished of letter writers sought additional instruction on letter writing through letter writing manuals.

One such book, The Lovers Letter Writer, provided answers to correct letter writing for every state of the relationship acquaintance, business, courtship, marriage and friendship.

It included 66 examples of every possible social need. Another popular guide, The Lover's Casket, brought out the romance in writing love letters for even the most faint-hearted suitor. Background and buttons by webmaster and are digitally watermarked. They may not be used on another site. Malheiro May not be reproduced in any way without express written permission of webmaster. Dos and Don'ts. Some of these sign-offs are more flamboyant than others. They appear a little outdated, but they all contain warmth and affection.

This, we can inject into our sign-offs. The general consensus of Victorians is that white paper is the most tasteful colour, and black ink. The question is, who will you surprise with this lovely gesture? The joy of English correspondence history letter writing.

Laura is a Marketing Executive at Readable. She loves coffee, literature, weightlifting and film photography. Part of the Added Bytes family. All Rights Reserved. Why were letters so popular in Victorian England? It revolutionised letter writing : The Penny Post allowed Victorians to transcend geographical boundaries.