Cursive writing a DEAD SKILL???

[1939]

16. 12 consecutive grading periods of Unsatisfactory in handwriting

In the 4th and 5th grades, we rotated teachers. We would spend half the day in one teacher's classroom and half the day in the other. One teacher taught reading and literature. The other taught arithmetic, spelling, and cursive handwriting. I was very good in arithmetic and won the school spelling bee, but that made no difference to the anal retentive old biddy of a spinster that taught the 4th and 5th grade class. I was an absolute failure at handwriting.

We were supposed to use the dip pens (desks still had inkwells then). You could use a fountain pen if the teacher inspected it first. Ball point pens were just becoming common, but were verboten contraband in the school system. Being left handed, I curled my hand around to see what I was writing which often smeared the wet ink forcing me to throw away the paper and start over making capital "I's". I was always slow in getting in the required iterations of each letter (usually twenty iterations of six leeters in a cursive "family&quot in the allotted time and my execution was poor. I had to array multiple blotters to keep going.

When I got to the 6th grade, my teacher (a matronly sort) was suitably impressed with my spelling and arithmetic skills and just said my handwriting wasn't very good but gave me a gentleman's S for Satisfactory in handwriting. In subsequent years before word processors, you wrote out everything long hand and gave it to the secretary to type. She always complained about being given "twelve pages of chicken scratches". After word processors, I could type something up and give it to the secretary to format and print on letterhead paper. Now I get writer's cramp if i have to write more than two sentences.