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Comment by rcurry | Hacker News Reader

The cursive writing is beautiful, what a wonderful little find. It's always a joy to find some echo of the past tucked away right under your nose.

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The writing is "Spencerian Penmanship" and is considered a distinctly American form. Its influence is still recognizable in the Coca Cola and Ford logos. Many homeschoolers still buy reprints of the classic manual for use in their curriculum.

http://www.amazon.com/Spencerian-Penmanship-Theory-Book-copy...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spencerian_script

I've been using the script for all of my handwriting for over a decade, even filling out cursive-prohibited official forms without issue. The swift transition from being notorious for "Dr.'s handwriting" to being sought after to fill out wedding and funeral cards was startling.

> I've been using the script for all of my handwriting for over a decade

Maybe a stupid question but, how? I have pretty horrible handwriting, certainly doctor level; how did you manage a swift transition?

Personal experience with handwriting change:

My writing became stylised in my teens, as I'm sure is true with many others. It sloped backwards, and I used a Greek style e and d, purely out of aesthetic reasons.

In my adult life I noticed this made my writing really slow. This became a problem when I sat some exams in adulthood: my hand cramped as I tried to scrawl as fast as possible in the time limit.

I deliberately investigated faster, more comfortable writing styles. Internet consensus, which I note agree with, indicated that joined-up, forward-leaning (italic) cursive was the way to go. The saw-tooth shape that underpins most letters is easy and feels natural -- if you're right handed.

It took me about 6 months of deliberate effort before the transition was fully embedded, and I'm still very pleased that I made the change.

Thanks for the wikipedia link.

People interested in how penmanship has changed over the 20th century might be interested in this (weirdly expensive book)

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Handwriting-Twentieth-Century-Rosema...

That cursive is exactly what I was taught in school in Australia. I would say it is less ornate than Spencerian, even less ornate that its successor Palmerian. But they're all quite similar to the more modern eye. My teacher at the time, (history and French) could write perfect Copperplate on the chalkboard.

Looks also the same as I was taught in the U.S. -- though I couldn't pull it off nowadays.

My grandfather grew up in the rural Midwest and wrote with a very attractive calligraphic style a bit closer to Spencerian; my dad still does too.

For any discussion about penmanship, I feel obliged to supply a link to the PenmanshipPorn subreddit[1]

1: http://www.reddit.com/r/PenmanshipPorn/top/

What picture are you referring to? Kids are taught cursive after capital letters in my country (well, it's more of a mix since capital letters are not cursive but print-like).

This one is not beautiful at all, in my opinion: https://img.washingtonpost.com/wp-apps/imrs.php?src=https://...

This one (low res) is very well aligned, but e's and s's aren't too good: https://twitter.com/OKCPS/status/606905034111000576/photo/1

There is definitely a growing sentiment in the USA that cursive writing is an anachronism. My kids (who just finished elementary school) learned it, but its use is not enforced in other schoolwork. They and most of their friends just print when they have to write by hand. Most writing assignments are typed on a computer now.

I was intrigued by the angular block lettering. Not a curve to be noted in the R B D C. (But notice the mix of styles in "My Rules to Keep Clean".) I wonder if that was the influence of the Art Deco movement that was just coming into vogue.

having a collection of old receipts I saved from my grandparents home I was surprised at how even receipts for furniture sales were so well written.

I do know that my niece and nephew had to have my mom's letters to them read to them by my sister as the schools they attended never taught cursive

Penmanship is one failing I keep trying to remedy, I think a lot can be communicated through it besides the words a letter may contain

the lines on those drawings are excellent .i wonder who may be the artist teacher or students?

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