So It Is Written

Throughout the decades, as life has changed, so has handwriting. We all know the flowery look of The Declaration Of Independence, but has anyone really noticed the changes from 1920 until now? As a test, I lined up some greeting cards that were sent to me from my parents, sister and children. You can clearly see how the patterns have shifted. In the 1930, cursive (or script) was painstakingly taught in elementary school. The "r"'s had just a bit of a scroll on the top. So did most of the capital letters. Printing was never used in any type of formal letter writing. If we stop to think about it, most of our parents have never used print to write a letter or sign a greeting card. Then came the 1960's, when I went to school. An equal importance was placed on print and script. When my generation writes a letter, we mix the two writing styles, so there is a more bold look. Sort of print-script. Now we come to my children's generation. The 1980's. By then, it seemed that the education system had almost given up. I am not even sure if my children or their friends even know how to write in script, as no one ever does. Most of them only print. Today, computers do our writing. The beauty of the written word has vanished.