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Way OT - Cursive Writing

Brian G. NY

Brian G. NY

Well-known Member
My cursive writing is lousy so I print most of the time.

Back in the day, many people who wrote in their day to day work wrote beautifully; almost artfully.

These two envelopes date back to 1929.

mvphoto88653.jpg
 
Yeah, when I was in grade school, about 75 years ago, we had regular classes in penmanship. Some students possessed a genuine flair for beautiful handwriting. No more!!
 
I always admired my late mom's handwriting. It did look like art. Sadly, I don't think it is taught or used as much anymore.
Kow Farmer
 
I still write in cursive but I understand that we live in such a digital age that most people today are more comfortable printing.

I had a brother who was seven years older than me. He convinced me during the summer between my first grade and second grade that if I couldn't write in cursive when school started after the summer break, I'd have to repeat the first grade. I spent way too much time during that summer teaching myself to write in cursive. When school began in the fall, I learned that second grade was when the school taught cursive. If my brother hadn't been so much bigger and stronger than me, I'd have beaten the tar out of him.

Tom in TN
 
Amazing what they could do! It helps to write with a real ink pen, not a ball point!

Place I used to work, been in business since 1899, always coming across something from the past, found a letter from someone looking for a job.

The hand writing was in beautiful cursive, but the grammar and spelling were terrible! Unknown if he was hired.


I certainly can't do it, was never really taught. Teachers tried, but even they couldn't write like it was supposed to be. Had a 2nd grade teacher put me and another girl in front of the class and stand while she ridiculed and berated us for our lack of handwriting skills. Said ours was the worst she had ever seen in her 300+ years of teaching (abusing) children!

After that, if it was something that was important to read, I just stuck to printing!
 
Beautiful!!

I am envious. Practiced and practiced
and practiced... still have a messy
lefty slant. And I have to write more
slowly to make it turn out halfway
pretty.
 
Pretty much gone in schools everywhere. In my last years as a teacher I had kids ask me to tell them what a cursive letter said.
 
I believe that style of penmanship is considered
..calligraphy.. requires a fountain pen. Believe me my
cursive hand writing in also a train wreck. At work I
have to do some handwritten documentation as
company records of my inspection findings. I learned
that it looks the neatest when I am finished if I print in
all caps. My wife has top of the scale penmanship. My
father born in 36 who only had an 8th grade education
from a country school was never taught to print.
 
I can write cursive . Was taught in school. If not using cursive
which I rarely do I have a habit of using upper and lower case
letters . Ts , Es , and As are just a few. I got in a lot of
trouble with the wife when our daughter was learning to write.
I was all over the place. That was the end of my writing
lessons.
 
My mother has a certificate on her wall of my Grandfathers for business penmanship from the 1930's somewhere in New York. I do not know if he travelled there or if it was through correspondence.
 
Not surprised that it is no longer taught in public schools. If it all it should be an elective art class.
It really has no useful purpose as far as communication.

Just away to put on aires, be high falutin, etc.
 
Ive never been good at cursive or even print for that matter. Even with an $800 Mont Blanc fountain pen
 
Cursive is easy to read, and faster to write. Both these make it a great option in many writing tasks. for those who usually never write, it is just irrelevant. Jim
 
My cursive was so bad, had a middle school teacher tell me to stop, and please go back to printing. Even then, sometimes they couldn't read. Both my folk's cursive hand writing is nearly artwork.

Mike
 
I used to have beautiful handwriting but not anymore. Thinking back I think I could write before I could print. Made it hard for the teachers because if she wanted something kept secret in class such as someone's surprise birthday party she would write it on the board and then swear me and the older kids to secrecy because we could read it and no one else could.
 
I prefer to, and can wright nice is
cursive. Not real artistic style, but
just nice and really readable.
I don't know why, but I always print
on envelopes. Otherwise, I never print
unless a form says to.
 
There are so many things that have nearly vanished from our every day life over the years. Mother
and Dad both had beautiful penmanship. With a name like A. J. O'Connor Dad always carried a
fountain pen filled with green ink so that there was no mistaken his Irish Heritage. I always think that
it is such class when you receive a hand written thank you note. Another thing that we have lost over
time is the pride that people showed in the way they dress. We were never allowed to leave the farm
till we washed up and changed our clothes. It was always ingrained in us that if we wanted to be
successful you were to look successful. Another subject that lacks it's place in our educational
system is U.S. History.
 
Nice handwriting always catches my eye. And I'm envious. I also marvel at how straight and evenly spaced the lines are sometimes. You'd think they were using a template
or something. As far as printing, drafting print on old blueprints or diagrams is always fun to see. Looks just like a computer font.
 
My mother had beautiful cursive handwriting.
Of course she went to school in London.
I still write in cursive a lot.
My English Comp professor in college was always putting red circles around any word I wrote ending in ing.
It was always a word with a straight line on the end.
She never lowered my grade because of it.
 
My cursive is generally illegible. Father was a civil engineer & had drafting courses under his belt. Always admired his printing so that's what I went to.
 
We had an outside vendor come in and taught us the Peterson method of handwriting. There were multiple outfits that bid on the job.
Spent hours drawing circles, slants etc.
She went away and so did my penmanship!
 
My sister is a teacher. They have not taught cursive writing for at least 10 years. They don't even have textbooks. Each student is assigned a laptop on the first day of school. All lessons are completed on the computers. No paperwork is handed to the teachers to grade. They can log into the student's computer to grade.

She is not in a big school either. She is in south central Nebraska in a town of about 1200 population.
 
Cursive was absolute in my family. My mother made me practice, including my signature until it looked dignified she said. And I could sign my Dad's name exactly as he did, even mother couldn't tell them apart. He had me sign checks for him when he got busy at his office. I also learned shorthand from mother, used it a lot in lectures in college but have forgotten most of it now. Lettered many drawings on vellum with an F lead, and then Mylar with ink until CAD came along. Those old hand drawn prints are beautiful artwork and a great sense of pride to me. Now my daily writing it a mix of cursive, printing, and a few shorthand symbols thrown in when I get in a hurry. Only for notes to myself, everything else gets typed into the computer if course. I use 1/2 thick 3/4 size spiral notebooks and go thru about one in two months. I have boxes full of them going back 40 years. Fun to pull one out and read about a project that was kicking my a$$ back then and now isn't more than an afterthought.
 
I had good penmanship, except that it was called backhanded(?). It had a reversed slant to it. A nun decided that it needed to be corrected and I have been a scribbler ever since. I wish Carrot Top had left me alone.

My Dad wrote very neatly, but as he has gotten older(94)it has become very poor.
 
Another note about my dad, he was left-handed & when they forced him to use his right, he developed a stutter that he still had a trace of late in life.
 
It is still taght in public schools... grandson in 3rd grade is in the midst of learning it now.

I told him it's fun, and one can write a bit faster in cursive.

I think it is good they are learning it.
 
They may not teach cursive at your school, but you have two of us that just told you that they DO teach it at OUR schools.

The 'digital age' may be taking over some places, but just remember this - when the power goes out, who will survive? Maybe the folks in California can start up their battery powered generators.
 
I could never write cursive well. All
through high school teachers took a letter
grade off my papers because of my
penmanship and they wanted papers in
cursive. In college I printed for
legibility and they were okay with that. I
don't remember needing cursive in college
drafting and my printing still needed some
help.
 
I'm 84 years old and I believe I still have a very nice cursive handwriting. When my grandchildren say Grampa will
you print my birthday cards, so I know what you wrote., I said no., you learn to read and write cursive. Most have
learned to read it but not too many have mastered it in writing. At least I think all tried, just not hard enough.
Back when I was in school, they taught the Palmer method. Glad I learned it.
 
Beautiful writing! Everyone should still learn to write and read cursive. Maybe when they are a bit older than 7 or 8 years as then they will have better fine
motor control. Why learn? So they can read historical documents, if only family letters and diaries.
My mother wrote beautifully. My sister can too. I struggle but can do a decent job when necessary.
I grew up not far from Middleburgh, NY. Recognize the Foland name.
 
That is a work of art.. Most people get in a hurry with writing now days,,seemed like back then they took their time and took care to write well.
 
You have some saying no longer taught in their public schools.

That does not mean it is not taught in ALL public schools.

The above text is not cursive, and therefore should not be difficult to decipher.
 
So what does it say ? I remember filling out pages and
pages of workbooks practicing every letter uppercase and
lowercase. Everyone puts Just enough of there own spin on it
that it becomes a secret language.

Mr. legrand edwards

Someone
Order for improvements?
 
I was doing some work on one of my rental houses just today when their 3rd. grade son came home from school. I asked him what he learned in school today and he said cursive writing. Said they learned j and k
today.
 
Maybe some school kids are learning it, but not all of them. I've heard stories of high school and older kids who, when asked to sign their name, had no clue what that even was!

My own cursive was never anything special. I'm sure I got criticized in school also because it was not very good. I pretty much got away from it after spending 13 years as a draftsman and printing the lettering on blueprints. The only thing I use cursive for now is my signature. Plus, I've gotten just shaky enough in the last couple years that even that is a disaster. Some days I can sign six checks and you can hardly tell they were done by the same person!
 
we will need cursive when the power goes out ? Id rather have a can of pork and beans but thats just me
 
Had an EE that paid his way through school doing Calligraphy. Coworkers would get him to do some decorative writing on cards for
special occasions when he joined our group. Was very good at it.
 
You know, for all this grousing about cursive writing, I still have yet to hear anyone give a good reason WHY, other than they had to, so everyone else should too.

Some of you had to wipe with a corncob in your early years. Does that mean everyone else should have to go through that phase in their life too, or is it okay if we use TP?

What lifelong skill, what mental acuity, does learning to write cursive unlock in the minds of young people, that they will regret not having later in life?

Frankly if kids can't read your cursive writing, it's you not them. Standard cursive that's taught in schools is not very different from print. Anyone who can read can figure it out pretty easily. The scribble some people call "cursive writing" would take a forensic handwriting analyst to decipher.
 
My grandfather attended a one room school out in the hills where they changed teachers every year. He had to go to work at 14 to help support the family. He always regretted not getting a better education. He had the most beautiful handwriting and command of English language. This was about 1900. He got a far better education than most high school graduates today.
 
I am left handed and also had to learn to write right handed. Early 50's. The teacher would tap your left hand with a ruler and make you put the pencil in
your right hand. Also on many occasions I would have to repeat My right hand is my working hand and my left hand is my helping hand. Ellis
 
Barney .... you hit the nail right on the head. A lot of replies aren't really bad-mouthing the lack of cursive skills too badly but there is that negative tone still lingering. I guess it's similar to a kid nowadays not knowing how to change his engine oil. He should be able to check it of course, but change it? Not necessary.
 
Doc .... I would guess there aren't many old school sign painters left anymore. When is the last time you've seen one at work?
 
When a friend of mine started school, the teacher asked him something & he answered in German. This went on for some time then he sent him home again. He was a grade behind the next year but could speak english.
 
I can read it easily so I thank your teacher and thank many veterans for being able to read English. I have a difficult time reading a lot of the so called printing stuff out there and some you can't tell if it is English .

My son in law had to show his high school graduate how to sign an application for a job as she was never taught to develop a signature. She wanted to print it out. No dummy either as she is a surgical nurse.

Crazy horse has an answer for everything that I think is just to be different. Might be wrong but it looks that way.
 
My sons didnt learn it in grade school as they stopped teaching it at that time. Not sure if they started again as they say it connects the hands and brains. I learned it as it was mandatory in those years. My sons are outstanding at typing. They started that in third grade. I cant type for anything. Its all what is important in your generation.

Vito
 
My granddad spoke no english as a young lad coming to the midwest. Learned very quickly, as he got his arse beat daily, because of his German speech.This was in a Lutheran school, no less!
 
I'm left handed and write that way. Teachers making students write right handed was the laziness and poor teaching on the teachers part. All that is needed for the letters to slope right is to turn the paper accordingly for the letters to lean to the right as they should. Now with almost 50 years since I was taught cursive writing and don't use it that much My signature needs a hieroglyphics expert to decipher it. It is more of a scribble. I see the need for it for the signing of documents like contracts and financial papers more than anything. I was taught to print in grade school when I was in the first and such grades and cursive in about 3rd or 4th grade.
 
Teachers forcing left handed children to write right handed is a purely RELIGIOUS thing, that being the left hand is the tool of the devil, or being left handed is a sign that you're possessed by the devil or some such nonsense.

Catholic nuns particularly relished the chance to beat the devil out of a student.

Luckily there was no such nonsense in my school when I grew up. The worst part of the deal was fighting with the other left handed children to use the stupid green-handled scissors, as there were always more lefties than green-handled scissors.

They theorized that my grandmother on my father's side was left-handed, as she had a massive stroke and lost all use of her right side, yet she was still write quite well using her left hand.
 
Crazy horse has an answer for everything that I think is just to be different. Might be wrong but it looks that way.[/quote]

I have to disagree. I don't see CH posting things to be provocative or different. Rather, he comes across as an independent thinker who doesn't necessarily sign onto the prevailing popular sentiment in the interest of being popular or well-liked.

For the handwriting question, I think it's a form of self-expression, a tangible part of one's personality, maybe personal style. If I had longhand I could be proud of, I'd display it every chance I got.
Gerrit
 
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