The statute of frauds survived as functional, not empty, formality

Evidence

The statute of frauds has been criticized as an anachronism. This venerable law is more than three hundred fifty years old, still under attack as empty formality. Formality it is, but not quite empty. To require land contracts, in 1800 or 1850, to be in writing, was not unreasonable, nor was it out of tune with the way land law was developing. An orderly land market (people thought) required orderly form: simple, standard deeds, duly recorded. In a market society, where land was essentially a commodity, oral land deals were an abomination. What was valued was not form for form’s sake, but useful form. The statute of frauds survived; other formalities, which had no purpose or place, disappeared from the law of contract. — Lawrence M. Friedman, A History of American Law, 1638