Penmanship and Politics

via Letter Writers Alliance

Those of you dear readers that live in the United Kingdom are likely already privy to this story, but it was sure news to me here, stateside.

It seems that British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has found himself in an extremely embarrassing situation. Attempting to do a good deed by writing a hand written letter to the family of a soldier killed in the the Middle East, Mr. Brown instead insulted the soldier's mother with his poor handwriting and a series of material spelling errors.

The situation has gone beyond one family's beef with Mr. Brown and turned into political fodder, readily used by Mr. Brown's opponents in Parliament. From the Daily Mail article:

Tory MP Adam Holloway praised Mr Brown's 'extremely good intentions' in sending letters to bereaved families of soldiers but added: 'It's sort of an allegory for the whole thing - very good intentions but the problem has been in the execution.'

'We can't write a letter correctly, we can't get the right equipment and as far as I'm concerned, we don't have the right strategy.'

The lesson: If you're going to write a letter, write it well.

Etiquette

Today, I received Emily Post in my afternoon post. I'm so excited! This volume of Etiquette is a reprint of Post's 1922 first edition.


Widely regarded as the outspoken authority on social etiquette, Post writes about the proper etiquette from public gatherings to formal dinners, from weddings to funerals, and, you guessed it, letter writing.

As I read through the book, I will post excerpts from Etiquette, to both inform and entertain.

In her introduction to the chapter on Notes and Shorter Letters, Post writes about the importance of neat handwriting, stating:

Therefore, while it can not be said with literal accuracy that one may read the future of a person by study of his handwriting, it is true that if a young man wishes to choose a wife in whose daily life he is sure always to find the unfinished task, the untidy mind and the syncopated housekeeping, he may do it quite simply by selecting her from her letters.