National Handwriting Day (January 23): 5 ways to share handwriting with a pen pal
National Handwriting Day is January 23: where it came from, handwriting traditions around the world, 5 ways to put handwriting into a digital letter with one enclosed photo, and the Lettie stamp.
National Handwriting Day is every January 23, the birthday of John Hancock, whose large signature on the US Declaration of Independence became famous. The Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association created the day in 1977. Lettie letters are written on screen, but a few handwritten lines enclosed as one photo carry the warmth of a handwritten letter. Send one letter between Jan 19, 12:00 UTC and Jan 25, 12:00 UTC and a free Handwriting Day stamp (a fountain pen, ink and a sealed envelope) arrives.
5 ways to share handwriting
- Your name in your own script — Hangul, Chinese characters, Arabic, Devanagari… it may be a script they've never seen.
- Write "hello" in each other's script — copy their greeting in their script, and they copy yours. Wrong stroke order is half the fun.
- Write the numbers 1 and 7 — in much of continental Europe, people cross the 7 and give the 1 a long upstroke. The same number looks different around the world.
- Old handwriting at home — a grandparent's recipe card, a line from a childhood diary.
- A whole letter by hand — photograph it and enclose it, and type the same text in the body so they can translate it.
Lettie letters can carry one photo (up to 5MB). Of 844 letters written since September 15, 2026, only 51 (6%) had a photo, so a photo of your handwriting stands out on its own.
Handwriting traditions
| Where | Tradition |
|---|---|
| Korea | Brush calligraphy (seoye) and modern lettering |
| Japan | Shodō (書道); kakizome (書き初め), the first calligraphy of the new year |
| China | Shūfǎ (书法); the couplets pasted on doors at Spring Festival are traditionally brush-written |
| Arabic-speaking world | Arabic calligraphy, letters woven together like art |
| Europe & the Americas | Pen calligraphy and cursive |
Japan Post marks the 23rd of every month as "letter day" (ふみの日, fumi no hi), so January 23 is both Handwriting Day and letter day there.
A few cautions
- Keep addresses, phone numbers and faces out of the photo, including what's written on envelopes and notebook covers. See our pen pal safety guide.
- Handwriting can't be translated. Type the same words in the body of the letter.
Example letter
It's Handwriting Day today! So I wrote my name in Hangul and enclosed a photo — from the left, it says "Min" and "ji". Would you write your name in your script for me? And do people cross their 7s where you live?
The median Lettie letter is 179 characters, about one postcard by hand; the numbers are in Lettie letter statistics. Other holidays are in the holiday stamp calendar.
Frequently asked questions
- When is National Handwriting Day and why?
- Every January 23, the birthday of John Hancock, whose large signature on the US Declaration of Independence became famous. The Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association created the day in 1977.
- How can I share handwriting in a digital letter?
- Write a few lines by hand, take a photo and enclose it. Lettie letters can carry one photo (up to 5MB). Keep addresses and phone numbers out of the shot.
- How do I get the Lettie Handwriting Day stamp?
- Send one letter between Jan 19, 12:00 UTC and Jan 25, 12:00 UTC and a free stamp arrives.