What is Business Penmanship?
Business Penmanship (BP) is a traditional American cursive handwriting style from the early-twentieth century. It is characterized by its light-line, simplified forms and semi-angular turns which make it easy to read and write and a great candidate for practical handwriting used by modern adults.
It’s a bit of a misnomer that we still call this style of beautiful, rapid, easy handwriting “Business Penmanship,” nowadays, when nearly all modern business communication is conducted digitally. However, the name is a carryover from when handwriting was the prominent form of professional communication. This connection to the past, along with its ways of life are a strong draw for many aspiring penmen and handwriting enthusiasts.
BP is the natural, simplified evolution of the ornamental styles that dominated mid-1800s America. It developed in response to the increasing popularity of faster forms of communication (like the typewriter, patented 1868), and served as the solution for penmen who were tasked with writing legibly, quickly, and for long periods of time. Unlike calligraphy, it is meant to be a practical writing style. Although many (myself included) find beauty in its simplicity, the primary focus is, and ought to be, efficiency.
An example of Business Penmanship from The Wesco System of penmanship, 1928.
Advantages of Business Penmanship
Business Penmanship is written almost exclusively with arm movement, making it generally more consistent, faster, and less fatiguing. Considering the circumstances involving handwriting today, these qualities are still very relevant. A handwriting style that is inconsistent, slow, and tiring does not entice would-be penman to put in the work necessary to develop a competent hand.
Another important quality is that it boasts no shades or changes in line thickness, making it more uniform when presented in page format. In contrast to the thicks and thins present in many calligraphic and ornamental styles of writing, its monolinear nature makes it easy to parse and produce. No specialized tools are needed.
Business Penmanship Methods
There have been numerous books published on the topics of Business Penmanship, Muscular Writing, Practical Writing, and the like over the last hundred years. On occasion, these books have found great success among the penmen community, and several are now considered “seminal works” of the style. Contemporary penmen have the luxury of choosing from these public domain works, but this can lead to some choice paralysis. My recommendation is that you spend a modest amount of time with each of the works below to gain familiarity with the nuances of the author’s writing, the ethos surrounding each method, and the aesthetic differences of each penman’s script.
In suggested order, I recommend:
- Modern Business Penmanship by E. C. Mills
- Zaner Method Writing: Manual 144 by C. P. Zaner
- The Bailey Method of Penmanship by J. J. Bailey