Fountain pens can still be purchased but have generally been replaced by more disposable rollerballs and ballpoints. Many people remember writing their birthday ‘thank you’ notes on Basildon Bond, which seemed rather posh at the time. But something has been lost with the march of technology, as revealed by the handwritten letters and postcards on show. 

 

Wally, an evacuee in Eye, wrote home to say the locals had tried to raise £63,000 to buy a warship but had only managed half that amount. He had seen a 14-shilling bike, which was "just the right size for me" and he had a "rotten cold". Some things never change.

 

And then there was the excitement of Ruby Waller who wrote a postcard in 1913 with enormous capitals saying, “COMING HOME ON THURSDAY”.

 

The last part of this display shows the devices which moved us away from handwriting and into the digital age. How good is your handwriting now?