One of things I have always wanted is a Bureau. This is a large writing desk that you would organise and send out your correspondence from. As this was quite a time-consuming operation you needed to have a bit of furniture that could help you with it. In the past many professionals such as writers, lawyers and will writers like the modern day Cheltenham wills and probate company https://beesandco.com/our-services/wills-writing-service-cheltenham/ would have had very ornate desks to work on.
We don’t need to have such things in the modern era of email and the like. Everything can be stored on laptops or a tablet. Imagine, through, a time when everything came by post and you had to write a written reply to all of it. Not only that, you would have had to have used one to send invites and personal mail out to friends and family. Add to that the fact that you would have had to wait weeks for a reply, especially if they lost your letter down the back of their bureau.
Our ancestors were big letter writers. Lucky much of this has been saved for the nation so that we get a good idea as to what the concerns and interests were of our Victorian and Edwardian ancestors. They were also very big on sharing their opinion on the days events. Much like the email forums of today, the readers’ letters section was dominated by the correspondents. Writing a letter to The Times or any newspaper is a skill and there are tips on it here. The letter to the Times though was the last resort of the angry and distraught. If things had gotten that bad, then there must be a serious social problem that you wanted being dealt with. All learned people read the Times, like MP’s etc. So, if it was included then the hope was that it would be seen and acted upon when the law makers saw the depth of your fury. It was in some ways an early echo chamber as the Editors were unlikely to print letters that they thought would anger the readership. They didn’t want the wrath of the readership on their heads either.
It really does help that you have a decent area to write in and the bureau certainly fits the bill in that respect. When you sit at one you can feel the inspiration that you need to compose a long and florid diatribe to some jumped up organisation. See? I’m already feeling it now. In all seriousness they do make an interesting addition to you home and are an interesting talking point in the room. Some even have holders for a small whisky or Brandy should you fancy it. They make an ideal home for a computer or laptop to sit. So in that sense you are yet again using for its original purpose.