Editing Palmer Method

{{short description|Teaching cursive and learning method}}
[[file:Palmer Method sample.jpg|thumb|Sample writing from ''The Palmer Method of Business Writing'']]
The '''Palmer Method''' of [[penmanship]] instruction was developed and promoted by [[A. N. Palmer|Austin Palmer]] in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It was intended to simplify the earlier "[[Spencerian script|Spencerian method]]", which had been the main handwriting learning method since the 1840s.<ref name= "deadmediawiki">{{Citation | last = Tyler | first = Robin DVC | date = 2010-04-12 | title = Palmer Method of Penmanship | publisher = NYU Dead Media Archive | access-date = 12 April 2010 | url=http://cultureandcommunication.org/deadmedia/index.php/Palmer_Method_of_Penmanship#Precursors_and_Palmer.27s_Method}}.</ref> The Palmer Method soon became the most popular handwriting system in the [[United States]].<ref name = apps>{{cite book|last1=Apps-Bodilly|first1=Susan|title=One room schools : stories from the days of 1 room, 1 teacher, 8 grades|date=2013|publisher=Wisconsin Historical Society|isbn=978-0-87020616-0|page=61|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ThFJAgAAQBAJ&q=palmer+%22most+popular%22+handwriting&pg=PA61|access-date=24 January 2015}}</ref>

Under the method, students were taught to adopt a uniform system of [[cursive writing]] with rhythmic elliptical motions.

==History==
[[file:Palmer Method alphabet.jpg|thumb|Alphabet and numerals from ''The Palmer Method of Business Writing'']]
The method developed around 1888 and was introduced in the book ''Palmer's Guide to Business Writing'' (1894).<ref>Palmer, A. N. (1894) ''Palmer's Guide to Business Writing''. Cedar Rapids, IA, Western Penmanship Publishing Co. [Web.] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://lccn.loc.gov/11026563 .</ref> Palmer's method involved "muscle motion" in which the more proximal muscles of the arm were used for movement, rather than allowing the fingers to move in writing. In spite of opposition from the major publishers, this textbook enjoyed great success: in 1912, one million copies were sold throughout the United States. The method won awards, including the Gold Medal at the [[Panama Pacific Exposition]] in [[San Francisco]], in 1915, and the Gold Medal at the [[Sesquicentennial Exposition]] in [[Philadelphia]], in 1926.<ref name=zanerian>{{cite web|last =Vitolo|first =Joseph M.|title=AN Palmer (1860–1927) |url=http://www.zanerian.com/Palmer.html| website = The Penmen Archives |access-date=24 January 2015}}</ref>

Proponents of the Palmer Method emphasized its plainness and speed, that it was much faster than the laborious [[Spencerian Script|Spencerian Method]], and that it allowed the writer to compete effectively with the [[typewriter]].<ref name="trubek">{{Citation | last = Trubek | first = Anne | date = 2009-12-17 | title = Handwriting Is History | publisher = Pacific Standard | access-date = 17 December 2009 | url = http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture-society/handwriting-is-history-6540/ | archive-date = 2010-02-04 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100204210820/http://www.miller-mccune.com/culture-society/handwriting-is-history-6540/ | url-status = dead }}.</ref> To educators, the method's advocates emphasized regimentation, and that the method would thus be useful in schools to increase discipline and character, and could even reform delinquents.<ref name="cbsnews">{{Citation |last = Smith|first = Tracy|date = 23 January 2011|title = Is penmanship being written off?|newspaper = CBS News|access-date = 10 Nov 2015|url = https://www.cbsnews.com/news/is-penmanship-being-written-off/}}.</ref>

The Palmer Method began to fall out of popularity in the 1950s and was eventually supplanted by the [[Zaner-Bloser Method]], which sought to teach children [[print writing]] (also called "manuscript printing") before teaching them [[cursive]], in order to provide them with a means of written expression as soon as possible, and thus develop writing skills.<ref name="alston">{{Citation |last1 = Alston|first1 = Jean|last2 = Taylor|first2 = Jane|year = 1987|title = Handwriting: Theory, Research and Practice|url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Jpg9AAAAIAAJ |publisher = Nichols Publishing |place = New York|isbn = 9780709951070}}.</ref> The [[D'Nealian Method]], introduced in 1978, sought to address problems raised by the Zaner-Bloser Method, aimed at making the transition from print writing to cursive easier for learners. The Palmer company stopped publishing in the 1980s.<ref name="usc">{{cite web|last1 = Makala|first1 = Jeffrey|title = Born to Please, Art of Handwriting Instruction, Spencerian and Palmer methods|url = http://library.sc.edu/spcoll/hist/handwriting/page3.html|website = University Libraries' Rare Books and Special Collections|publisher = University of South Carolina |access-date = 24 January 2015}}</ref>

==Legacy==
In radar engineering, a [[Palmer Scan]] is a scanning technique that produces a scanning beam by moving the main antenna and its feed in a circular motion. The name was derived from the looping circles practiced by students of the Palmer Method.<ref>{{cite book |last=Vakin|first=SA|title=Fundamentals of Electronic Warfare (Artech House Radar Library)|publisher=Artech Print on Demand|isbn=978-1580530521|year=2001}}</ref>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
* {{cite book|author=Gard, Caroll|title= Writing Past and Present|location=  New York|publisher= A. N. Palmer Company|date= 1937 }}
* {{cite book|author=  Thornton, Tamara Plakins|title=  Handwriting in America|location=  New Haven|publisher=  Yale University Press|date=  1996|isbn=  0-300-06477-2|url=  https://archive.org/details/handwritinginame00tama}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite book|title=Script and Scribble: The Rise and Fall of Handwriting|author=Florey, Kitty Burns|publisher=Melville House|edition=First|date=January 20, 2009|isbn=978-1933633671|url=https://archive.org/details/scriptscribbleth00flor}}
*{{cite book|title=The Palmer Method of Business Writing: A Series of Self-teaching Lessons in Rapid, Plain, Unshaded, Coarse-pen, Muscular Movement Writing for the Home Learner, Where an Easy and Legible Hand-writing is Sought|url=http://palmermethod.com}} "The object of this website is to teach rapid, easily-executed, business writing. It has not been written to exploit any one’s skill as a pen artist. It aims to be of use to those who are ambitious to become good, practical business writers. The lessons it contains are not experimental, but have been the means of guiding millions of boys and girls, young men and women to a good business style of writing."

==See also==
* [[D'Nealian Method|D'Nealian]], a style of writing and teaching cursive and manuscript adapted from the Palmer Method
* [[Zaner-Bloser Method|Zaner-Bloser script]], another streamlined form of Spencerian script
*[[Library hand]] another 19th-century script developed by [[Melvil Dewey]] and [[Thomas Edison]]
* [[Round hand]], a style of handwriting and calligraphy originating in England in the 1660s
* [[Regional handwriting variation]]
* [[Teaching script]]
* [[Engraving]]

== External links ==
* {{cite book|author=Palmer, A.N. |edition=Original |date=1894 |url=https://www.loc.gov/item/11026563/ |title=Palmer's Guide to Business Writing|publisher= Library of Congress}}
* {{cite book|author=Palmer, A. N. |date=1935 |edition=1935 |url=https://archive.org/download/palmermethodofbu00palmrich/palmermethodofbu00palmrich.pdf |title=The Palmer Method of Business Writing}}
* {{cite book|url=http://www.iampeth.com/books/palmer_method_1935/palmerMethod_1935_index.php |title=The Palmer Method of Business Writing|date=1935|edition=  Scanned images of the 1935 |author=Palmer, A. N. }}
* {{cite book|author=Palmer, A. N. |url=http://www.iampeth.com/books/palmer_spanish/palmer_spanish_index.php |title=Método Palmer de Caligrafía Comercial|date=1949|edition=  Scanned images of the 1949 |language=es}}
* {{cite journal|url=http://www.zanerian.com/Palmer.html|author=Sull, Mike |journal= Excerpt from Spencerian Script and Ornamental Penmanship |volume = I |title= A. N. Palmer (1860-1927)}}

{{European calligraphy}}

[[Category:Penmanship]]
[[Category:1894 introductions]]
[[Category:Latin-script calligraphy]]
[[Category:Western calligraphy]]
[[Category:Writing systems introduced in 1894]]
[[Category:1894 in the United States]]
[[Category:Handwriting script]]