{"id":49006,"date":"2023-07-03T17:08:27","date_gmt":"2023-07-03T17:08:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crazycrow.com\/site\/?p=49006"},"modified":"2025-09-26T18:59:30","modified_gmt":"2025-09-26T18:59:30","slug":"history-writing-in-colonial-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crazycrow.com\/site\/history-writing-in-colonial-america\/","title":{"rendered":"History of Writing in Colonial America"},"content":{"rendered":"

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History of Writing in Colonial America<\/h1>\n

Writing Materials & Learning to Write<\/h2>\n

Credit Above Photo: Watts Photos<\/a>, All rights reserved by watts_photos<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>

History of Writing
\nin Colonial America<\/h1>\n

Writing Materials & Learning to Write
\nBy Crazy Crow Trading Post ~ July 3, 2023<\/span>
\nCredit Above Photo: Watts Photos<\/a>, All rights reserved by watts_photos<\/a><\/h3>\n<\/div>
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Writing in the Colonial America era, was a complex technical process that required an array of materials and techniques, many of which were often difficult or expensive to acquire. Some of the personal writing tools used in colonial America included quill pens, ink, journals, paper, stoneware inkwells, sealing wax (the idea of separate envelopes did not exist) and portable writing desks that could be placed on another table top or in the lap.[1] Formal writing instruction was deliberately limited to certain elite classes of the time of both sexes and men of business and trade.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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QUILL PENS date to the Dark Ages, when bird feathers replaced the hollow reeds the Romans used. Thomas Jefferson bred special geese to keep himself supplied. Because of their shape, only the five feathers at the tip of the left wing were used; left-handers could use feathers from the right wing\u2014and it was best to pull them in the spring. The trick then was to bury the feathers in hot, dry sand to harden the points, after which it was time to get your penknife out: the better the cut, the finer the script. Britain imported twenty-seven million quills a year from Russia alone to meet the demand. For almost 1,500 years, people used quill pens to write letters. By the middle of the 19th century, however, steel nibs were well on their way to ousting the quill. [10]<\/p>\n<\/div>

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18th Century Writing Supplies<\/h2>\n<\/div>