Re: CHAT: C in Greek Alphabet

Charlie wrote:
> >Roger Mills <rfmilly@...> wrote:
>
> >Seems to me there were two forms for "r" too, but I could be wrong.
>
> Yes, you're right!  I had forgotten all about those.  But how to
> describe their forms?
>
> For one, you wrote up off the base line as if making a lower-case c.
> Then, instead of retracing that line to make the semicircle, you came
> straight down to the base line.  Then back up that vertical line to
> the top of the loop & pushed off as if leaving a lower-case v or w.
That one was more recognizable as an r....(as seen in the site Mark linked
to) -- I think you used it (optionally) when linking to a letter that began
on a downstroke.
>
> The other looked rather like the Cyrillic "p".  You drew the line
> up one side, made a short horizontal line, then down the other side,
> pushing off as if leaving lower-case h.  Darned "pe" was visible on
> this page but wouldn't transfer to the edit page!
>
http://www.ameshistoricalsociety.org/penmanship.htm -- second graphic "yours
truly" shows this version.  Also slightly resembles Cyrillic script "g"
(adapted from gamma).

There was an alternative cap F too (like the cap T in Mark's ref., but with
a crossbar-- cf. the Ford logo).  All these were quite hard to do with that
sharp little nib on cheapo school paper :-((((

One reason fountain pens weren't allowed, of course, was that they were an
expensive luxury that many couldn't afford in those WW II/post-Depression
days. Even though we were relatively well off, I do remember my parents
grumbled at spending $5 for a Parker 51 around 1945 or so!!  Too sharp a
point for me, as it turned out; I came to prefer Esterbrooks. They also hit
the ceiling when I sent off $5 for one of the very first ball-points, a
Reynolds IIRC; bulky all-metal thing that looked like a little rocket ship
:-)) and ran dry very quickly.  Now it's Bics or whatever is cheapest. I do
regret that it's become hard to find refills for ball-points; you just chuck
'em when they run dry.

Trick learned from my frugal sister: to revive a dying ballpoint, hold the
point in a match or lighter flame for a bit; sometimes it works :-))))
though not for long.

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