Pen pals (or penfriends, penpals, pen-pals) are people who often write letters to each other, usually through the mail. Pen pals are typically strangers, and their connection mainly, or only, comes from exchanging letters. Sometimes, pen pals may already know each other, but they do not meet in person regularly.
Purposes
A pen pal relationship often focuses on cultural exchange and building a friendship. People may also choose to have pen pals for reasons such as learning languages, sharing postcards, sending parcels, or exchanging mail art. Pen pal clubs are now available online, in magazine columns, newspapers, social media sites, and sometimes through clubs or special interest groups. Although some news articles have discussed changes in popularity, penpalling remains a common activity that has evolved over time.
Organizations
Many pen pal organizations help people connect by matching them with others who share an interest in writing letters. These organizations can be divided into three groups: free, partial subscription, and subscription-based. Free groups are often supported by advertisements, and they do not check the profiles of members. Subscription-based groups usually do not have advertisements and have someone who checks and approves member profiles before adding them to the group.
The traditional way of writing letters between pen pals has become less common because modern technology has made it easier for people to communicate quickly. However, prison pen pal services have used both technology and traditional letter writing. These services allow prisoners to post advertisements online for pen pals, but most prisoners in the United States and other countries cannot use the Internet. Because of this, letters between prisoners and their pen pals are still sent through the postal system. Other pen pal organizations have continued to operate by using the Internet for communication.
In popular culture
The Australian author Geraldine Brooks wrote a memoir called Foreign Correspondence (1997). The book describes her childhood, which was made better by her letter exchanges with children in Australia and other countries. As an adult, she traveled to find the people she had corresponded with.
In the 1970s, the TV show Big Blue Marble invited viewers to write letters to become pen pals.
On the show Pee-wee's Playhouse, Pee-wee Herman often received letters from pen pals.
In the Peanuts comic strip from the 1960s and 1970s, Charlie Brown tried to write to his pen pal using a fountain pen but had many failed attempts. He then used a pencil and called his pen pal his "pencil-pal." His first letter explained why he changed the name. In the movie The Peanuts Movie, this hobby helped Charlie Brown develop a happy friendship with the Little Red-Haired Girl without changing the story’s world much.
The Bollywood movie Romance (1983) tells the story of Amar (from India) and Sonia (from the UK), who fall in love after becoming pen pals. Another Bollywood film, Sirf Tum (1999), has a similar plot.
The movie You’ve Got Mail (1998) is a romantic comedy about two people who start a pen pal relationship through email, not knowing they are business competitors.
The action-drama film Out of Reach (2004) follows a pen pal relationship between a Vietnam War veteran and a 13-year-old girl from Poland. When the letters stop, the veteran goes to Poland to find out why.
The teen romantic comedy A Cinderella Story (2004) features two people who start a pen pal relationship through email and plan to meet at a Halloween dance.
The claymation film Mary and Max (2009) is about the pen pal relationship between an American man and an Australian girl.
In the 2012 film Moonrise Kingdom, the characters Suzy and Sam become pen pals.
Musicians Jetty Rae and Heath McNease have collaborated under the name "Pen Pals."
In 2025, a Singaporean and a Newfoundlander who had exchanged letters for over 40 years, starting in 1983 as schoolgirls, met for the first time. The BBC documented their meeting.