
January 23rd Is National Handwriting Day
Did you know there’s a whole day to celebrate handwriting?
In today’s day and age, that might seem like an anachronism. But those of us who enjoy exchanging handwritten letters understand the charm and sense of connection that handwriting brings. “In 1977, WIMA (Writing Instrument Manufacturers Association) created National Handwriting Day.” (1) It was inspired by John Hancock, whose flamboyantly large signature on the American Declaration of Independence came to signify a signature – the phrase, “I need your John Hancock,” means that “I need you to sign a document.”

The Importance of Handwriting
I’ve talked with friends over the years about our love of handwriting, and shared a collective horror at the news that schools stopped teaching it to grade school children. We agree there are many benefits, such as:
- Personal expression
- Connection through the physicality of the act of writing
- Access different parts of the brain, as when experimenting with asking a question with the dominant hand and answering it with the non-dominant hand – and vice versa
- Analysis of personality, or graphology
- Kinesthetic learning, or learning through physical activity
- Calligraphy
Handwriting and Letters
Writing a letter to someone by hand can allow us to express our thoughts in a way that typing or dictation don’t. One can experience time slowing down to the speed at which one is writing, which can allow one to examine one’s thoughts. Receiving a handwritten letter is similarly a slow craft, which can focus us on what’s being said.
I have had penpals for whom handwriting is unpleasant, either because of the physical act of writing, a learning or cognitive difference, or simple personal preference. I have found that their letters can be just as decorated as one that is handwritten, and consider a letter received in the mail, over which the sender has spent time and attention, to be immensely satisfying.
What about you, Dear Reader? How do you prefer to write your letters? How do you feel about handwriting? Tell us in the comments.
Resources
- “National Handwriting Day,” American Association of Handwriting Analysts, undated, accessed 01/03/2025 on the following link: https://www.aahahandwriting.org/natl-handwriting-day.html
- “AHAF’s Campaign for Cursive,” American Handwriting Analysis Foundation, undated, accessed 01/03/2025 on the following link: https://ahafhandwriting.org/AHAF_s_Campaign_for_Cursive
- “Why handwriting remains essential in 2021 and the future,” Jane Yank PhD, article undated, access 01/03/2025 on the following link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sZfwS7ZZ9Ik46WhwO0UiGumuFca-MIWL/view
- “National Handwriting Day – January 23, 2025,” National Today, accessed 01/03/2025 on the following link: https://nationaltoday.com/national-handwriting-day/
- “Graphology Bascis: What Your Handwriting Reveals,” Handwriting and Graphology, by Mariana, 03/31/2021, accessed 01/03/2025 on the follwoing link: https://handwritinggraphology.com/graphology-basics/
I like to write my letters during the day, i.e., morning or early afternoon. If I start to write a letter in the evening, I end up throwing it away because my handwriting isn’t as nice as it is during the day. Also, I am tired and if I don’t finish the letter I started in the evening, I end up throwing it away then, too.
About not teaching cursive handwriting in school: it upsets me dearly. I have a grandson in his Sophomore year at high school whom I write to maybe once every 2 weeks. He can’t read cursive, so I have to print his letters. That is very sad.