6 Entertaining Sites to Read Famous and Unsent Letters to Peek Into People’s Lives
If there is one thing the internet loves more than writing letters, it’s reading them. From insightful letters sent by famous people to intimate correspondence between a couple in the 1900s, and a bunch of letters that the writer couldn’t get themselves to send, these websites offer a chance to peek into someone’s thoughts like never before.
1.Letters of Note(Web): Correspondence Deserving of a Larger Audience
Since 2009, Letters of Note has been one of the most belovedwebsites serving intelligent contenton the internet. Founder Shaun Usher scours the world for private correspondence between two or more people that is now safe to be published publicly, giving you an insight into the minds and interactions of people both famous and not.
Usher has found letters from the likes of Mozart and Bill Gates, as well as regular folks who have something to say that’s more interesting than accomplished names. The entries cover a wide range of emotions, such as whimsical, romantic, funny, angry, and even threatening. Typically, Usher himself writes a short context for the featured letter, and then publishes the original scan as well as a digital transcript.
The site unfortunately doesn’t have an easy way to browse it for topics or tags, but you can try searching for some common topical words and maybe you’ll get lucky. You can check out the most-read letters or use the “Surprise Me” feature to jump from random note to note. If you like Usher’s curation, you should also check out the two sister sites,Diaries of NoteandLists of Note.
2.109 Love Letters(Web): Collection of Love Letters Between a Couple in 1900s
Chicago-based Stephanie Knudson loves visiting vintage markets, and on one of her jaunts, she picked up a stack of old letters. In the pile were several notes from one Daisy Lancaster to her beloved John. It’s a total of 109 letters spanning from 1905 to 1910, that are so full of warmth and love that Knudson felt compelled to share it with the internet.
In each post, Knudson includes a full digital transcript of the letter along with a picture of the original as well as the envelope with the postmark. Daisy’s writing is old-school, and with each letter, you discover more about the couple, the deep love they shared, and get a peek into the lives of people in that time. Knudson usually adds a small note with each letter, pointing out new information or trying to add context.
Knudson hasn’t discovered any letters sent by John to Daisy, but notes that if he stored her mail so well, he must have truly treasured these. A relative of John and Daisy got in touch with Knudson and gave their approval to continue posting the letters, and shared a picture of them too.
3.r/UnsentLetters(Web): Reddit Community for Unsent Letters
As the name suggests, r/UnsentLetters is a subreddit for people to write and post a letter that they could never get themselves to send. Several posters have claimed it’s therapeutic to put those thoughts into words and actually have it read by someone, even if it wasn’t the intended recipient.
As a reader, it’s a fascinating look at the different ways people approach life situations. You can sort the posts by a few popular flairs, such as lovers, crushes, exes, friends, strangers, and NAW (No Advice Wanted). Quite often, redditors will comment on these letters and spark a conversation too. And of course, you canexplore the best of the subredditwith the usual techniques.
If you want to randomly read posts from r/UnsentLetters, check out a cool site created by a redditor calledUnsent Letters. It picks up a random popular post, and presents it on a blank page, typing it out as if the original author was writing the letter in front of you.
4.Letters Anonymous(Web): Read Letters by Anonymous Senders and Recipients
Letters Anonymous is another online platform to write anonymous letters and read those sent by others. But unlike Reddit, you don’t even need to create an account to submit a letter here, finishing the whole process through an online form to make it truly anonymous. All letters are then published on the site for anyone to read.
The creator of the site actually reads and grammar-corrects letters before posting them, and removes submissions that are hateful, threatening, or use overly offensive language. It makes for a better reading experience overall. Each letter’s title is available in a long list, and follows a simple format of who it’s intended for, the letter’s contents, and who it was sent by — of course, while keeping identities anonymous.
5.Letters to Crushes(Web): Romantic Confessions, Hopes, and Regrets
Letters to Crushes is similar to r/UnsentLetters, in that this is all correspondence that the writer wishes to have, but isn’t willing to send to the recipient. As the name suggests, the website focuses solely on letters to crushes and romantic interests in one-sided situations.
The posts are usually quite short, and you’ll be able to go through most of the site in an hour’s time. Letters to Crushes has a strong and positive environment, encouraging readers to comment on posts and have discussions. As the site says, it’s a community of romantics who are here to listen, support, and validate.
6.FutureMe (Public)(Web): Letters to Yourself, From the Past
FutureMe is one of the best websites tosend a letter to your future self, whether it’s words of support, goals and objectives, or any thoughts from today that you want to remind your future self about. Typically, these are private, but several users choose to make their letters available to the public anonymously.
In all the public letters, FutureMe notes how many years ago the letter was originally sent, followed by the letter itself. Most letters are short enough to read the whole thing in the preview, but you’ll sometimes come across longer letters which you’ll have to open the letter’s page to read. The letter’s page also lets users comment on it and have a conversation.
Some FutureMe letters are marked with an asterisk to tag it as an Epilogue. That means the original poster saw the publicly available letter and commented on it as an update. However, epilogues are available only for premium users of FutureMe.
Try Writing a Letter…
These sites obviously make for entertaining reading, but don’t forget that they also encourage you to write letters yourself. Much like journaling, it can be a healing process to put your thoughts into writing and send them out into the world.
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