Because I'm focused on Kay Kemble: The Lady With the Gold Baton, I am side-stepping generational fights about "cursive," which we used to call "handwriting" when I was in school.
Like many young women of her era, Kay went to teachers' college -- at that time women could work professionally as teachers or nurses -- and penmanship was an important part of the curriculum.
This short 1963 movie, "Your Handwriting Is Important," is the kind of instructional film I watched in my Hoosier classrooms.
In the 1940s, the art of calligraphy, especially using a quill, was dying out, apparently, and this British Pathe film features an expert who was reviving the art. Interesting to see the ways the pointy end of the quill was trimmed and sharpened.
Apparently Europe is the place to learn how to write with modern (or modern-ish) implements, if you think the ability to write by hand is of any value in these tech-filled times!
We Ohio kids never got to watch a video but I'm happy I learned to write "cursive." So much speedier than printing, and not everything can be done on a phone or keyboard.
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