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Yes. Havent in a few but, in my one year in Iraq we had no internet and we had to pay international rates for phone calls so I wrote everything in letters home. No USO but AT&T set up phone tents that took phone cards. I had a class of 3rd graders as pen pals and I wrote home to mom, dad, and my wife. The wife got 3 letters a week from me for the entire year. Only 3 of them were less then 4 pages double sided. Most were in the range of 8 and 9 and I think the longest one I wrote was 11 pages both sides.
I work, so I write a lot during the day. I take notes when talking to a customer, and I write up orders longhand too. I also keep several note pads on my home computer desk and keep notes, like my banking transactions, things I want to remember, etc.
I know some people use their phones for a lot of this, but I am old fashioned. I work with a few younger people, who use electronic means of documenting things, and when they write something I have to go back and ask them what is says. Their handwriting is horrible.
All the time. All of my personal correspondence, except for my annual Christmas letter, is done in longhand on proper stationary. In general, sending something longhand is far more likely to get a response than a text or an e-mail.
Sorry to say that I hand write very little but grocery lists. My handwriting is unpredictable so I usually type. It also gets me out of the house more quickly and doing something active.
I do receive a hand-written letter from a classmate in AZ about five times a year, though. His writing is getting pretty shaky and spidery so I don't know how much longer he will do so.
It's kind of fun. Like receiving an elegant antique in the mail!
When I have something to write which is complex and which requires careful thought, I prefer to write out a draft in long hand and edit that before I type it into a document or into an email. I suppose my preference is related to my age (71), as I was well into adulthood before word processing capability came into common use.
I seem to write better and think better that way, although I admit that will sound strange to some people, and the younger people are, the stranger it will sound to them.
I'm not that old but I have to write letters and presentations and I always hand write beforehand to gather my thoughts. To me it is a way of proof reading sort of like crib notes? Then I go and type it on the computer. For some reason my mind goes faster than my hand writing!
I'm a big believer in teaching cursive writing in schools for lots of reasons.
I still do some of the exercises I learned when I was 7 to loosen up stiff fingers or to start up a pen. When I was little, trying to make all the loops and zigzags the same size and shape was fun for me and it improved my eye-hand control at the same time.
Using the classic 3-fingertip grip my etcher insisted on was also a huge help later in life, especially when making notes in college; it's really the best preventative of hand fatigue of anything, and it taught me young, unconsciously, to use my whole forearm to write instead of just wiggling my fingertips.
The cursive writing charts that used to hang above the school blackboards taught me how to identify and distinguish cursive letters from printed letters early. The two have always had 2 different purposes- cursive is designed for speed over clarity of letter shape, and printing is exactly the reverse- slow and legible.
If a child learns how to visually cursive decode young, there are no problems reading letter variants later on. If a child only learns how to print, the child will never learn how to decode cursive, which is still by far the most common handwriting style in the rest of the world outside the US.
I had a lot of jobs as an adult where I needed to write a lot in different ways. Learning cursive's speed was a big help, but I had to develop a speed printing style on my own for some jobs. Putting words on paper is still the most common way of human communication worldwide, and is still the most reliable permanent record in the world.
Handwriting is also the most forgery resistant method of communication as well. It is literally impossible to completely imitate another person's cursive handwriting, as each brain-hand connection is different and distinct. A forger will always betray himself as his connection is different, no matter how hard he tries to imitate another.
Interestingly, using a fountain pen on documents is also the most forgery-proof. There are bottled inks that are almost completely forgery proof; the ink cannot be washed, bleached, or erased away completely, and there are inks now available that resist a forger's exotic methods, like using ultra-violet light or computer manipulation.
Typically, oil-based ballpoint ink can be cleanly wiped off a check with just a bit of paint thinner or other common solvents, leaving no trace behind.
Rollerball water-based ink uses dyes to color the ink, and the dyes themselves are non-permanent; colors like blue and red will fade completely away all on their own in time, and are easily erased by using a little alcohol, ammonia, or other common chemicals, including dish detergent and water.
There are bottled inks now that use micro-ground carbon and other minerals for permanent black inks and some colors. These inks aren't expensive or hard to find outside of the usual places pens and ink are sold. These inks cannot be erased without leaving traces behind, and trying to remove the traces will destroy the paper surface before the ink is gone.
Ironically, the specialty printers who print check blanks and other legal documents use much more sophisticated forgery resistant measures than almost all the pens used on them. it's next to impossible to forge the background on a check, but very simple to change the amount of the check or the signature on the check. While imitating cursive writing is impossible, it is possible with printed letters.
Symbolic signatures, which are intentionally illegible, are the easiest of all to forge, since they are all dashed off very quickly. All it takes to forge them is a little practice getting down the dashing movements, which are obvious after some study. Ironically, the only easy safety most folks have for signature protection these days is the ink in the pen they use.
Fountain pen tips also wear down differently with the way the pen is held, the pressure used, and other factors. Using an older fountain pen adds to the distinctive individuality of the owner's handwriting that cannot be forged unless the forger uses the same pen. This is not true with any other pens. There are many specialty nibs available for only fountain pens that also add a lot of individuality on their own. A stub nib, for example, always produces thick and thin strokes to anyone's signature, cursive, printed, or symbolic gesture that can't be imitated by any forger.
Even the bottled ink that's still found in office supply stores is better in forgery resistance than the other inks, especially if it's black. And all the black inks are much more permanent on all papers, so letters, journals, etc. can still be read many years after being written.
Iron gall ink, the oldest ink of all, is ironically very permanent, and it naturally changes color from black to brown as it ages. The iron in the ink literally rusts in time, and rust is harder to forge than anything ever put to paper. Documentarians can authenticate a historic document by the rust alone.
Lots of good reasons to use handwriting these days, in any way a person writes.
I wrote my will by hand a couple of years ago as a rough draft; there are some things in my estate that could change in the near future, so I called my lawyer about the legality of my sketchy will. He said that my handwriting and signature on the draft made it a legal document in the courts as it was. So, at the moment, that rough draft will suffice until my estate's changes are resolved. A will written on a computer can be challenged, but not one written by hand.
In elementary school we used wooden stick pens with steel nibs. The ink was in inkwells at the corners of our desks. This was a progressive but strict public school.
We were not allowed to use fountain pens until about junior high and not ballpoints until high school.
Penmanship was very important and I guess they figured that if we could write with those horrible stick pens, then we would be able to write with anything. Didn't work with me.
To this day I still prefer a fountain pen and a bottle of ink. The pens with cartridges that came out later were convenient though and there was no bottle of ink to carry around (and spill.)
We had an exchange teacher from Austria and he told us that the kids over there were not allowed to use ballpoints at all. It's hard to have decent handwriting with a ballpoint although they do write fast and are good for taking notes.
Same here with a bit of variation. We were allowed to use fountain pens in about seventh grade but that might be junior high. My school system didn't have junior high only k-8 (grammar school) then 9-12 (high school) so I don't know. I do know that later on, kids of all ages were allowed to use fountain pens.
The term "ink pens" were used to delineate all other pens from ball point pens which we were never allowed to use in grammar school for many years. I don't know in what year that ban was lifted. They were considered to be the ruination of good penmanship.
I still write lists and sometimes letters to a friend who also writes letters on occasion. I write notes to myself and memos on my calendars. I send e-cards but also snail mail cards. I don't want to give up the art of handwriting.
Lists, the occasional check and short notes on greeting cards.
I've have the hardest time keeping a journal or diary. I have been encouraged to many times and have tried, but I just could never get into the habit or keep up with it longer than a day or two.
I was thinking today that I write so seldom now. I might write a grocery list, and an occasional card. But that's about it. If I send a letter, it will be an email. I don't write out recipes any more, either. I save them to some sort of file. Or if I have to, I type them up.
I almost never send postcards. I don't keep a journal or diary.
So, I don't do hand writing very much.
How about you? Are you still writing recipes down, doing Christmas cards with news, send letters?
I know the younger kids are not learning cursive. But do you think hand writing will become a lost art?
I manually write the grocery lost and the budget, and anything to MOH {MY Other Half}, or a note to others I mail. I STILL write checks by hand, too!
Everything else done with MS Word on the 'puter.
WHY do I hand write the budget when there are SO many budget programs/spreadsheets? Cause I like to do so! IT changes every week with every non-standard bill so I make manual adjustments weekly with a new one I hand write out.
I HAVE started to PRINT my checks out as it seems cursive both: shows your age, and is something today's young ones cannot read so well. SO I have adapted.
I still on occasion do calligraphy for cards and special gifts for friends...that fancy script{s} is something I USED to do when I was in my teens/early 20s, {some 30 odd years ago}.
I darest say writin' is somptin' akin to ridin' a bi-cycle, you's never ferget's!
I'm a big believer in teaching cursive writing in schools for lots of reasons.
I still do some of the exercises I learned when I was 7 to loosen up stiff fingers or to start up a pen. When I was little, trying to make all the loops and zigzags the same size and shape was fun for me and it improved my eye-hand control at the same time.
Using the classic 3-fingertip grip my etcher insisted on was also a huge help later in life, especially when making notes in college; it's really the best preventative of hand fatigue of anything, and it taught me young, unconsciously, to use my whole forearm to write instead of just wiggling my fingertips.
The cursive writing charts that used to hang above the school blackboards taught me how to identify and distinguish cursive letters from printed letters early. The two have always had 2 different purposes- cursive is designed for speed over clarity of letter shape, and printing is exactly the reverse- slow and legible.
If a child learns how to visually cursive decode young, there are no problems reading letter variants later on. If a child only learns how to print, the child will never learn how to decode cursive, which is still by far the most common handwriting style in the rest of the world outside the US.
I had a lot of jobs as an adult where I needed to write a lot in different ways. Learning cursive's speed was a big help, but I had to develop a speed printing style on my own for some jobs. Putting words on paper is still the most common way of human communication worldwide, and is still the most reliable permanent record in the world.
Handwriting is also the most forgery resistant method of communication as well. It is literally impossible to completely imitate another person's cursive handwriting, as each brain-hand connection is different and distinct. A forger will always betray himself as his connection is different, no matter how hard he tries to imitate another.
Interestingly, using a fountain pen on documents is also the most forgery-proof. There are bottled inks that are almost completely forgery proof; the ink cannot be washed, bleached, or erased away completely, and there are inks now available that resist a forger's exotic methods, like using ultra-violet light or computer manipulation.
Typically, oil-based ballpoint ink can be cleanly wiped off a check with just a bit of paint thinner or other common solvents, leaving no trace behind.
Rollerball water-based ink uses dyes to color the ink, and the dyes themselves are non-permanent; colors like blue and red will fade completely away all on their own in time, and are easily erased by using a little alcohol, ammonia, or other common chemicals, including dish detergent and water.
There are bottled inks now that use micro-ground carbon and other minerals for permanent black inks and some colors. These inks aren't expensive or hard to find outside of the usual places pens and ink are sold. These inks cannot be erased without leaving traces behind, and trying to remove the traces will destroy the paper surface before the ink is gone.
Ironically, the specialty printers who print check blanks and other legal documents use much more sophisticated forgery resistant measures than almost all the pens used on them. it's next to impossible to forge the background on a check, but very simple to change the amount of the check or the signature on the check. While imitating cursive writing is impossible, it is possible with printed letters.
Symbolic signatures, which are intentionally illegible, are the easiest of all to forge, since they are all dashed off very quickly. All it takes to forge them is a little practice getting down the dashing movements, which are obvious after some study. Ironically, the only easy safety most folks have for signature protection these days is the ink in the pen they use.
Fountain pen tips also wear down differently with the way the pen is held, the pressure used, and other factors. Using an older fountain pen adds to the distinctive individuality of the owner's handwriting that cannot be forged unless the forger uses the same pen. This is not true with any other pens. There are many specialty nibs available for only fountain pens that also add a lot of individuality on their own. A stub nib, for example, always produces thick and thin strokes to anyone's signature, cursive, printed, or symbolic gesture that can't be imitated by any forger.
Even the bottled ink that's still found in office supply stores is better in forgery resistance than the other inks, especially if it's black. And all the black inks are much more permanent on all papers, so letters, journals, etc. can still be read many years after being written.
Iron gall ink, the oldest ink of all, is ironically very permanent, and it naturally changes color from black to brown as it ages. The iron in the ink literally rusts in time, and rust is harder to forge than anything ever put to paper. Documentarians can authenticate a historic document by the rust alone.
Lots of good reasons to use handwriting these days, in any way a person writes.
I wrote my will by hand a couple of years ago as a rough draft; there are some things in my estate that could change in the near future, so I called my lawyer about the legality of my sketchy will. He said that my handwriting and signature on the draft made it a legal document in the courts as it was. So, at the moment, that rough draft will suffice until my estate's changes are resolved. A will written on a computer can be challenged, but not one written by hand.
Thank you for clarifying all of this and I could not have put this as well or elegantly as you have done . I was just explaining to my 23 yr old son the other day why I put wax seals on my letters as well . and how the wax seals got started . the wax seal originally started on wine bottles or fine spirits very old ones to seal the cork to the bottle so it could not be tampered with and then during the revoluntionary and civil wars they sent msgs by courier and they wanted to make sure they had not been tampered with as well so they applied a wax seal to keep secrets . I guess they wanted to make the couriers were not tampering with them either . I guess I use the wax seal cause it is fun now and does make sure that no one has read the letter but the intended person . My SIL tells me Im paranoid for that LOL not really she is just joking about that .
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