Handwriting

At Primary School (1953-1959) we were taught cursive - the pen didn't leave the paper until the end of the word. And we were taught how to hold the pen or pencil correctly. When I look at old Census forms for family research the handwriting is beautiful. My grandparents left school at 14 but had beautiful well formed writing. I use a fountain pen a lot and still do the same handwriting (more or less) that I learnt at school. When necessary I can also write very fast with this style. IMO handwriting has deteriorated, pens held badly (wonder if some will suffer from arthritis in hands later?) handwriting almost printed rather than joined up. Although I have to say my writing is not as neat as it used to be.

I am thinking of treating myself to a good, comfortable pen. I find a thicker barrel more comfortable, some of the pens I have are so slim I find them hard to grip.
I'm told that a rollerball is the way to go, does anyone have any experience of these? I still have my fountain pen but don't really want to have to use ink and blotting paper.

My handwriting deteriorated once I started to use a PC. I find using a fountain pen helps a lot if I handwrite a letter.

I once had a shopping list I had dropped in a supermarket returned to me by a supervisor. Her child had been in my class at school and she had recognised it.
My handwriting has always been a type of joined-up rounded print which I was taught at school. It looks quite childish but hasn't really deteriorated.

My son who is 25 his hand writing is absolutely awful. I don’t how to help him. Is there hope at his age or is it too late.

Just to add, when first doing OU exams in my early 50s I had become so unused to handwriting anything except shopping lists and birthday cards, I had to consciously practise handwriting in order to be able to manage 4 (legible!) essays in 3 hours. My hand actually ached at first!

I seem to remember a disparaging comment in one of Jane Austen’s novels about someone’s handwriting - possibly about Mr Bingley’s - comparing his handwriting to someone else’s - maybe Mr Darcy’s. ‘He leaves out half his words and blots the rest.’

Maybe they weren’t all so adept with their quill pens. 😉

I do know people keen on family history research who’ve had a devil of a job to read entries on birth, death, and marriage certificates.

My own is nothing to shout about, but I put that down to 3 different schools in about as many years, each expecting a different style, from modern cursive, to old fashioned ‘loopy’, to italic. My handwriting has never recovered.

I love sending hand written letters and prefer that to the telephone for keeping in touch with older relatives and others but I seem to be on my own with that! I also send postcards, another old fashioned thing, but people say they enjoy receiving them and I certainly enjoy choosing them. It’s part of my trips away.

My MIL used to write regularly when more people did, but her handwriting was atrocious and unreadable. Am I alone in thinking it selfish to scrawl in such a way, particularly when people have said they can’t read it?
The only good side is that her personal diaries are unreadable too, so if she had anything she wanted to keep a secret, she achieved it!

Same here, nanna8. My writing has got smaller for some reason and is now almost unreadable.

Mine is horrible now and gets worse as I get older. It used to be reasonable . I tend to type more than write these days.

I won a Blackbird fountain pen from the Children’s Newspaper for handwriting back in the early 1950s though you would never know it now. Was the make Blackbird? Surely not, I must be misremembering.

Reading through a cache of letters from my DH I was sharply reminded of how the writing of someone you love brings them close to you and what a thrill picking up the envelope was. His distinctive writing became unreadable as Parkinson’s took over and was a sad reminder of his decline.

Did anyone enter the school competition for handwriting. You had to have a token/ coupon from a children's newspaper.

I won a certificate, back in the 50's, but since using a biro at grammar school, my handwriting has seriously deteriorated.

My mother always had lovely handwriting which just started to slant downwards a bit as she got older. My aunt, her sister, also writes in perfect copperplate still at 102.

My late parents were born in the early 1920’s and both had beautiful handwriting.My Mum always wrote in birthday cards and Christmas cards and her writing was as lovely as the card.
The deterioration in her handwriting was the first sign to me that something was amiss before she was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.

I've recently become disappointed with my own handwriting. Used to have a recognizable style and clarity but not at the moment. I put it down to lack of use but am remedying that with a bit of daily scribing.

My dad, my sister, my son and I have/had remarkably similar handwriting, so much so that I’ve mistaken an addressed envelope from one of them as one I’d written myself! It’s neat although not beautiful.

My brother has the most elegant handwriting. Unfortunately, it’s also illegible! 😂

My DH who was born in 1911 was exactly the same. His handwriting was beautiful. He was also an excellent artist and did some sign writing for his workplace.
Mine was never a patch on his, but it’s still legible and I cross my Ts and dot my Is.

My dad had beautiful handwriting too. I think there was much more emphasis on handwriting when he was at school in the 1920s.
Children now are more likely to type so the art of handwriting is no longer so important.