Friday Field Trip: The gorgeous Goods for the Study.
Where does one even begin? Papers and cards and those pens. Oh my.
I’d been planning this Upper West Side trip for several weeks, in order to discuss teaching a cursive handwriting workshop there. I’d met the manager of the Rockefeller Center location of the store and we had a great conversation about what I call the “hunger for the analog arts”. She delivered some good news: “I sell fountain pens all day long.”
Wow.
Years ago, I was in another store, Housing Works, and I signed a paper credit card slip. “Your signature!” the clerk said. “You should teach handwriting.”
I wrote about this scene in my Object Essay Pen. The upshot was that, at the time, I didn’t think it was possible. My reasoning? I didn’t have the training, it takes a lot of time, and simply having the skill myself was not a basis for teaching it.
Years went by. Without my even mentioning it, the cursive conversation would come up with outraged parents. Why weren’t their children learning this crucial skill?
I started thinking about it. What’s the worst that could happen? I wouldn’t be good at it and I’d drop the whole idea.
In a New York Times article about the documentary Turn Every Page, Robert Gottlieb refers to the idea of “…making public your own enthusiasm.”
I’ve now taught at least five cursive workshops at the New York Public Library and Artist & Craftsman and the only reason for their success is my enthusiasm. I am passionate about the subject matter and love sharing it with anyone who will listen. It’s certainly not because I taught cursive in the classroom for years. That would help but, I happily learned, was not a precursor for making it public.
The workshops follow a format: an introduction to the subject and the research (which states still teach it, which might soon return; how the mind processes information better when we write by hand; the importance of cursive for speed, as well as the ability to read historical documents). Then, we do arm, wrist, and hand exercises. Next, we dive in and start working with pen, pencils, and tracing sheets. Finally, we work on a letter to a friend or family member. The takeaway? An inexpensive Pilot fountain pen. Everyone loves some swag.
I have the Rudolf Steiner School to thank for this. I learned curisve in third grade and have never stopped. I wrote about it here.
Oh, and another thing. My dad, that Bronx boy I mentioned last week, had perfect Palmer penmanship. He’d be thrilled I was teaching cursive.