ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Letter collection

Sometimes people want to collect things, like stickers or toys, and some people like to collect letters. A letter is like a picture made with words that people use to talk to each other when they are not together.

To collect letters, people sometimes keep them in a special box or a folder. Just like how they might keep their toys in a toy box or their stickers in a book. Sometimes people like to collect letters from their friends or family, so they write letters back and forth to each other like a game.

Other times, people collect letters from a long time ago when people used to write letters more than they do now. These letters can tell us all sorts of interesting things about what people were like and what they did a long time ago.

So collecting letters is a way to keep words that people wrote a long time ago, or to keep letters from people they care about. It's like a special hobby that can help us learn more about the past and the people we love.