The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1886-04-09
Correspondence AS 1T WAS
Writing in the Days of Quill Pens
and Waters.


and WATERS
boston HERALD
The ease of modern correspondence, IN
comparison with that of fifty years ago,
is something which many of the present
generation fail TO appreciate The writ
ing of a letter. in the outset, was much
more of an undertaking In those days.
Quill pens were generally in use, the steel
substitute being on the verge of that gen.
eral adoption into which it has since
come The quill pen had to be first pre-
pared and often thereafter mended. This
was no small task. 1t requires an expert
to make good pen from the quill A
sharp knife was necessary. and 1t must
always be kept in good order deft hand
was needed to split the quill properly. and
to give it the best point with the knife as
a finishing operation was in itself an art.
The quilts used to come in punches.
Sometimes lot of them would be pointed
by skIful member of a family at once,
at others, the writer had TO depend upon
himself and to do with a good or poor
one according to his capacity. The
teacher who taught writing in school
taught the scholar also how to mend his
pen. The small knives used for this pur-
pose obtained the name of penknives from
this employment a name which is prob
ably without significance or anything but
an arbitrary term TO most of those who
now hear it used.
Note paper was little used then Peo-
pie, when they wrote, were called upon
TO pay so much for their postage that they
generally utilized a larger sheet On the
sheet itself was placed the direction of the
letter Envelopes were unknown. The
expense attending the sending of letters
made people careful about any superhu-
Gus paper in them. 1t was the habit of
many to cover the sheet with correspond
ence in every part but that which was ex-
posed to the public gaze in going
through the postoffice Some skill
was shown here, too. There was expert
folders of letters, and there were those
who did the work bunglingly. There
was not much thin paper. 1t must be
made stiff and strong to meet the wear of
handling. A thin paper was devised for
foreign letters, to save Part of the much
greater expense of foreign postage. 1t was
made very fexible, and was composed of
the best material that could be obtained.
This is still considerably in use for for
eign letters. 1t Tesists hard usage about
as well as did the sitter paper employed
at home. But for some reason it never
came into general employment in do
mestic correspondence.
The letter was generally sealed with
wafer Waters were sold in boxes for
this purpose and they were an indispens-
able part of a stationary equipment
Sealing wax too, was much in use. The
fashion which now prevails of using it in
polite correspondence is a revival of a
practice which existed among the more
particular people of this earlier epoch. In
the seal ring was the seal with which to
stamp the initial of the owner, and many
gentlemen used seals carried for watch
guards for the same purpose. This fine
old custom of carrying watches in fob
pockets in the trousers, and of attaching
to them ornamental seals, is one that has
hardly been improved upon in appear
ance, if it has been in convenience, by the
more modern methods