Posted: 12/14/2006 8:40:39 PM EDT
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Before there were Typewriters (Computers for the Younger Folk), Women had to go to school to learn penmanship in order to become secretaries.. For those of you who are interested..here is a site that has lessons on different styles of penmanship.www.iampeth.com/lessons.htm#ornamental  Writing Supplies can be had at: www.scribblers.co.uk/ thewritersedge.com/authentic.calligraphy.cfm www.blotspens.co.uk/ Some Fountain Pens www.covingtoninnovations.com/pens/#WHY Some Stationary www.artpaper.com/mm5/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=Handmade&Store_Code=ARTPAPER |
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My grandmother told me about penmanship classes. Btw the best site for pens if only for the URL |
Funny as hell  Why bother anymore? Word has a Script font if I need it 
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+1 I took typing classes in High School (early 70's) and was exposed to my first computer there as well. It's all been downhill from that time forward. My handwriting looks like it was done by a 5 year old with seizures. |
Handwriting is a lost art... I admit it, I wish my handwriting was better. It is almost indecipherable to others. I am so used to doing everything on a computer these days.... The handwriting of my great grandparents and grandparents was beautiful. Is basic penmanship even taught in schools anymore  |
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I went through grade school in the 50's. My writing was bad so my teacher made me stay after school and write ... "I will improve on my penmanship" ...fifty times on the blackboard. She would not let me go home until she approved of each and every letter I wrote. A lot of erasing and re-writing. I hated it then...but... To this day, I write everything so anyone can read it. No "doctor's writing" here.
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My cursive penmanship generally sucks. I'm usually in a hurry when I scrawl something out. But I took many years of drafting in Jr. High and Sr. High so my printing is quite legible. I had penmanship lessons in grade school in the late 60's. But I really don't think it's taught anymore. My daughter's penmanship is atrocious. 
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Seriously. My mother has been quite ill, and has problems even printing legibly now. A script font in her old handwriting would make her day, and then some. PM, email, what have you. It'd be appreciated. |
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There are a few ways to turn your handwriting into a font. The most common and easy method is to write all the characters that you will use, A-Z upper and lower case in addition to punctuation and special symbols, on paper and scan them into a digital format. From there, the scan needs to be transformed into a vector image and tweaked. Finally, it is packaged into a single font file that you can use like any other font on your computer. The process is not at all mysterious, however it requires much skill and understanding of typography, applications, and technical details. I am a graphic designer so I am comfortable working with these things. The simple way to go about it is to have someone else do the hard work for you. Below is a nice and simple review on one of those services. www.lifehacker.com/software/diy/geek-to-live--make-your-own-font-206685.php |
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The picture of the letter you put up is beautiful. I've always loved fancy, hand-penned papers like that. It really IS a lost art. There's just something about the amount of work put INTO something like that and the quality of the finished product. It tells me the person truly cared enough about the document AND the intended recipient, as well as his/her own self-image TO take the time to do it so well. Sadly, for the most part, those days are gone. Although, so are the days OF handwritten letters, for the most part, I guess. Thanks for posting the links too. They were cool. I'd love to improve my steadily declining crappy penmanship. It's gotten MUCH worse over the years, since my high-school drafting days. Maybe I'll go buy me a pad of paper and a nice pen and waste some time. 
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Here is a sample of my common handwriting that was taken with my recently acquired yard sale scanner. I am beginning to learn how to write in Sütterlinschrift style. Being able to write in many different styles is very nice and it is something that most other people cannot do. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sütterlin |
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Is cursive handwriting still useable in todays world? Since becoming a full fleged adult (age 21), no where have I found (except for signature) where cursive handwriting is required. Every form, document, etc. that I have had to fill out states "please print or type." I have actually forgotten how to write in cursive handwriting. My signature is now a stylistic thing which cannot be read as my name---a deliberate thing on my part to make forging difficult. Dave. |
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I personally always thought having good penmanship was something to take pride in. I prefer to write letters to people, even short ones, by my own hand. As a mechanic at a dealer one does a LOT of writing. But trying to get it done quickly does degrade it over time. When my son was in Boot camp, and then later, Iraq / Kuwait with the USMC I wrote him a letter every few days. I thought a letter being in my own hand would mean much more than something off the computer. It was pretty easy to see that with each letter my writing improved back to it's good old days. I detest really crappy penmanship, whether it's cursive or printing. Drives me nuts. |
Bingo! In this day and age of Email...notes written from a keyboard are "cheap" because they are so common. On the other hand a well crafted letter with beautiful penmanship written on some fine stationary is something that the recipient of the letter will keep and treasure for years. If you want to really make points with a woman, write a love letter in Spencerian Script with scented ink. Deviate from it slightly by using an Ornamental Script for the Capital Letter of each sentance. At the end of the letter, write the word Love, followed by your signature in Ornamental Script. Make it as beautiful as possible, the slight flaws in it will attest to its authenticity, heightening it's relative "value". If you really want to go the whole nine yards.... carefully fold the letter, and seal with sealing wax imprinted by a seal. such as:  Sprinkle a little embossing powder on the Sealing Wax while it is still hot after having stamped your seal on it. I like a Royal Blue Sealing wax with a Fine Gold Embossing Powder. Put a Silk Ribbon Tie around the sealed letter and insert a small card with her name on it..  or  You can get some Sealing Wax at: www.nostalgicimpressions.com/product_p/x340.htm Some more seals at: www.swordmark.com/seals.html and www.customwaxnseals.com/designoptions_Clans.html |
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I've never been able to understand how they shade the letters like that. I do calligraphy and am pretty good at several hands (Roman, several Gothic hands, and Uncial, as well as drawn capitals for each), though my handwriting is terrible (calligraphy isn't handwriting, it's more like drawing the letters). I also know most Sutterlinschrift and, to some extent, copperplate (although I can't shade it, as I said). In Russian, we have to write in cursive, because pretty much every Russian writes in cursive. Learning Russian cursive has destroyed my ability to write English cursive. Russian d looks like English g, R/r like P/p, G like T, t like m, both m and i like u, l like i without a dot, V/v like B/b, U/u like Y/y, and B/b, T, and g are off doing their own thing. |
I have written many a check for NNN and "zepo / hungreths." I feel your pain. |