From NYC to DC, in a Digital World, the Comfort of a Letter Endures

There were only two people waiting in line at the Wisconsin Avenue Post Office on Friday afternoon. Salt from the snowstorm stained the welcome rug and the Valentines card section sat in the corner untouched.

A subtle hum came from the heater while fluorescent lights flickered, a certain silence took over the room, an uncomfortable almost eerie silence. In the week leading up to Valentine’s Day, the post office is not romantic as Hallmark movies make it out to be.

As two patrons waited to send packages they had tucked under their winter coats, trying to figure out the difference between pink slips and green slips, a man tapped his foot against the cold grey floor and a woman gazed around the bleak room at the display of cards.

She was waiting away from the counter wearing a navy sweatshirt and a warm winter coat with a crossbody bag draped around her.

A typical “I have errands to run, and it is freezing outside” outfit. She appeared to be in her fifties or sixties. I approached her with a question she definitely was not expecting, something out of the ordinary “how long have you been waiting?” or “do you know where I can find the stamps?”

I asked her the last time she sent a handwritten letter, and she laughed and tilted her head back; she was caught off guard and slightly nervous as to why a young girl with a notebook had questions for her. She answered politely: she had sent a thank you note recently.

When I asked her if she had ever sent a love letter, she seemed apprehensive, responding with “Yes, I’m sure I have…it’s been a long time but I’m sure I have.” Maybe she recalled a lover whose name she no longer knew or whose story ended unfinished.

The art of letter writing has been replaced with digital communication since e-mail dominated workspaces and Facebook connected people across great distances. When people can communicate instantaneously at the press of a button, why take the time to buy the stationary, sit down and write, trek through snow covered streets and wait in line to buy stamps to send a letter that could get lost?

The United States Postal Service Office of Inspector General reported that first class mail volume which accounts for personal letters has been reduced by nearly half between 2008 and 2023, reflecting a cultural shift to digital communication.

Traditional mail has not peaked since 2006, around the time cell phones and texting became widely popular. Studies have shown that the average US household received 1.6 pieces of personal correspondence per week in 1987 which has dropped to .8 pieces by 2012. During that same period, the receival of personal letters fell by 80%.

So, what’s the deal? Have we become so attached to our devices that we have lost a form of communication that is historically engrained in American culture?

The Smithsonian National Postal Museum has catalogued the history of letter writing in America. As a nation built by immigrants, letter writing has always been an important form of communication. Dating back to colonial life in America, letter writing was the only reliable way to communicate great distances.

Letters provided reassurance, emotional connection and daily updates for families who had been separated in the earliest years of America. Letters of love and support were sent during the world wars and Vietnam. Letters of social change and empowerment were sent during the great migration and the depression, but since 2008 that American legacy has been lost.

23-year-old Peyton McDonnell made the big move from Washington to New York City last year to start her career as a lawyer. Something that has kept her going has been communicating with her long-distance friends via letter writing.

This is not a trend to McDonnell; she has used letter writing as a form of communication since her sleep away camp days. She sent postcards from her travels abroad in London and now she keeps up with birthdays and holidays sending heartfelt letters to her friends who live hundreds of miles away.

“I’ve written many letters to friends to express my gratitude to have them in my life and I feel like I can convey my emotions better in letter form than I can speaking sometimes,” McDonnell said.
As Gen Z has become increasingly attached to digital communication, McDonnell feels like letter writing is exciting and thoughtful.

“It has become more rare to get something in the mail, it’s exciting and to hear that someone took time out of their day to write you something, go to the post office and get the stamps. I think it’s really meaningful in that gesture,” she said.

Back in the Wisconsin Avenue Post Office the heater still hums, and the cards may remain untouched, endless opportunities for connection waiting to be written. But somewhere, a letter from McDonnell is making its way through the system.

The kind of letter that will make someone stop, smile and feel deeply known and appreciated. Maybe the love letter isn’t dead, maybe it is just waiting for the right person to pick up the pen.