It is not uncommon to hear the older generations say, “In our day, people did [insert something they did in the olden days]. I wish people would still do that.” Sometimes, that kind of wishful thinking is not practical, purely due to nostalgia. But there are some things that the older generation did that the new generation forgot how to do, which can be considered beneficial.
This post will look at the past and examine five oldie but goldie things the previous generation did. Let’s begin!
Handwritten Letters
There’s something about receiving handwritten letters that a well-crafted email or an emoji-filled text can’t replicate. Of course, there are very few instances when someone may receive a handwritten note. But when anyone gets a well-written letter, the experience is fundamentally different.
For some reason, the time it takes from seeing the letter in the mailbox, opening it, reading it, and reaching the end of it, is filled with unexplainable excitement. Perhaps it is the fact that we don’t receive handwritten letters anymore, but getting one from a pen pal, for example, fills us with joy.
There are several possible reasons why handwritten letters are better.
Handwritten Letters are Rare
The lower the supply, the higher the demand – a commonly accepted business truth. In 2017, the US Postal Regulatory Commission reported that Americans received only ten personal mail on average. Writing and addressing mail by hand is just too inconvenient in the age of emails and instant messaging.
The rarity of handwritten letters makes us see them as more valuable.
Handwritten Letters Show You Care
Putting effort into greeting a friend through handwritten letters conveys a more caring and personal touch. So you bothered to get a nice piece of paper, write with a pen, get the address right, and mail it. It won’t be surprising if the recipient keeps the letter as memorabilia.
Handwritten Letters Set You Apart
Due to their rarity, letters immediately stand out. If you are a business owner, one decisive way to send a more personal message and stand out to customers is by sending handwritten letters.
Mailchimp saw the staggering comparison between the open rates of emails and handwritten notes – emails get a 22.7% available rate while physical letters enjoy a 99% open rate. If you want to set yourself apart as a friend, sending handwritten letters is the way to go.
Pro tip: nice handwriting and a high-quality pen will take your handwritten notes to the next level. Use premium quality materials if you genuinely want to stand out – thick stationery, fountain pens, and wax stamps will give your letters a welcome edge.
Cursive Writing
Cursive writing may be related to handwritten letters, but it is still too notable a forgotten tradition that it deserves a spot of its own on this list. There’s something about seeing a carefully written note, with all of its glorious loops and flair, that’s satisfying to behold.
Very few of the population take the time to write well in cursive for daily notes. Computers do most of our writing work. Writing on pen and paper is not as important today as it was a few decades ago – how much more painstakingly slow writing is to achieve beauty.
Some may say that cursive writing is impractical and useless. But whatever happened to putting effort into making something as trivial as writing pleasing to the eyes?
Storytelling
Storytelling is a lost art. There may be a few hundred people across the country that can engagingly tell stories, but they are not the same as the family tradition of storytelling we saw in the past. What happened to grandchildren gathering around grandparents to listen to a classic family story?
Family storytelling benefits all members, no matter how old they are. The University of Nevada in Reno listed the following benefits of storytelling for children:
- Children get a stronger sense of who they are; they see their family history as their identity
across time
- Children develop higher self-esteem, can deal with stress better, and see their family as
stronger
- Children become emotionally more intelligent – they tend to be able to express their thoughts
and emotions better and can understand how others feel
- Children develop strong communication and literacy skills. They develop better vocabulary,
comprehension, and language skills.
- Storytelling strengthens children’s imagination.
Road Trips to Vacations
The previous generations planned their journey to vacations with road trips. But, just like the other items on this list, taking the road to a vacation destination became all but lost in time. So, family vacations begin after a flight instead of during the journey.
While road trips to vacation destinations are inconvenient most of the time – families have to plan bathroom stops, where and what to eat, mind the gas, choose the best route, survive hours in the car, and more – they have some forgotten allure. For one, road trips expose the family to exciting views along the way. The family sees different architectures, delightful landscapes, colorful characters, and unforgettable people that help make vacations memorable.
Aside from the views, the family gets to experience each other – just talking, singing along, playing the license plate game, and trying to find ways to make the drive a tad more interesting. But, unfortunately, gone are those days, and for a few reasons. One reason is we have now moved into a fast-paced world of instant gratification; if we want something, we want it now.
Another reason is that road trips just became far too expensive. Despite the drawbacks of taking the open road to a vacation destination, it is still an old tradition worth bringing back once in a while.
Make the Best of the Twilight Years
The people who enjoyed the years before the items on the list became obsolete live in a world with which they are not overly familiar. One of the younger generation’s responsibilities to the older one is to make their twilight years enjoyable. One way to do so is to provide them with the best care possible.
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