What is Business Penmanship?

Business Penmanship is a style of traditional American cursive handwriting from the early-twentieth century. It is the natural, simplified evolution of the widely-used semi-angular ornamental styles of the mid-to-late 1800s. Business Penmanship developed in response to the increasing popularity of faster forms of communication (like the typwriter, patented 1868), and served as the solution for penmen who were tasked with writing legibly, quickly, and for long periods of time.

A copy from The Wesco System of penmanship, 1928.

The advantages of Business Penmanship are:

• It is written almost exclusively with arm movement, making it generally more consistent, faster, and less fatiguing.
• It boasts no shades or changes in line thickness, making it more uniform when presented in page format.
• It is unflourished, making it ideal for simplified, clear transactional communication.
• It can be produced with nearly any writing tool. Dip pen, chalk, ballpoint, whiteboard marker, etc.

Common Aliases

• Business Writing
• Simplified Writing
• Practical Penmanship
• Arm Movement Writing
• BP