Community Chat

[Zhills]

First character "a name" to do correction at the bank ???

[alliswell]

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@kivah wrote:

I worked as a stenographer for most of my career and I know Pitman - studied it in Brooklyn, NY. If this is Pitman, the 2nd word looks like "rather than"; 3rd word looks like "name"; 4th word looks like "highly". The 1st and 5th words look similar - but not exactly the same. 

Do u know who wrote it and where they grew up? People on the east coast learned Pitman (English version) and most of the rest of the US were taught Gregg.

Gregg shorthand doesn't have dark and light strokes (all the same) and is usually written with a pen.

Pitman has dark and light strokes, has dots and dashes and other symbols to show how to pronounce the words and is usually writeen on a lined-pad. When someone knows shorthand well --- they can make up their own short-cuts which makes it more difficult to read.

It could be Gregg.

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I agree,it's Gregg . . . "back to work at the bank."

[Zhills]

"it, at" is the simplest brief form.  Wouldn't she use it?

[SeattleShopper1]

Another thought could be---

The  second stroke could be either due or do.   Because the stroke for "at" in the fourth stroke is short  and   the second stroke  appears to be a "d" because it is longer  than the "t" in the fourth stroke)    Also,  the third stroke in the phrase appears to contain s and m  "sms"  OR  "rc"   Can't discern if there is a curve in the third stroke OR if it is straight.  Straight would be an "m"      Curve could be  " r" and "c".

So,   another possible interpretation could be

Back due sums at the bank

OR    there might be a slight curve in the third stroke   So...might be  

Back due records at the bank

In any event,  this has been interesting and am so happy you had this connection with your Mother.  Can see she loved her family very much and she was a very hard worker--working until she was seventy.    Best to you.

[tends2dogs]

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@RedTop wrote:

I excelled at shorthand in high school and used shorthand in every job I had after graduation.   

Back to work at the bank makes sense, if the person who wrote it was known to stray from their teachings and write in versions they could remember.   I have done that as well when taking dictation.

However, using the strokes I was taught, this phrase says "back, to do, of course, at the, bank", which makes no sense.   Based on the inconsistency of the strokes in the first and last words, I do feel the writer had their own version of writing that was easy for them to remember.   

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@RedTop  Could it be "back to work, of course, at the bank"  ???

[tends2dogs]

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@ALRATIBA wrote:

That looks like Gregg shorthand.  I learned Pitman.

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@ALRATIBA   I do believe it is Gregg because I remember seeing a textbook at my parent's house. My mom learned this in high school and she graduated in 1942. 

[Big Sister]

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@sugar22 wrote:

It has been YEARS since I took shorthand, but it looks like "back to work at the bank".  Does that make sense?

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I still use some shorthand to take personal notes over the phone or in a dr's office.  I'm sure about the "back to work at the"  but if the last word is "bank" it is not written correctly.  It is definitely Greg shorthand and I used it for many years in my various jobs.  I loved learning it and using it.  I referred to it as my WRITTEN LANGUAGE, not spoken.

[tends2dogs]

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@LilacTree wrote:

I learned Gregg in high school and used it in every job until the advent of computers.  Once I had a word processing program at my desk, my bosses would sit down next to me and dictate and I would type as they talked and have the letter printed out as soon as they finished.  They read it, signed it, and I put it in the office mailbox.  Rarely did this process take longer than 10 or 15 minutes.

Compare this to sitting in their offices taking dictation and then having to type it all out for them to read, and usually they were by then on to something else and the letter would sit on their desks for sometimes days before they got around to reading it . . . and then they would want to change it, and I would have to sit and take dictation again . . . and round and round we would go.  Sometimes it took a week to get a letter (or report) out of an office.  I always worked for professionals (lawyers, accountants, doctors, etc., the laziest people on earth).  At least the doctors would dictate to tape and I could type from that.

That said, I still remember steno and until my writing hand got bad, used to use it occasionally for quick notes. 

One of the lost "arts." 

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So, @LilacTree, what do you say it says?  You called it a lost art.  I agree..... it is pretty to look at.  My mother had beautiful penmanship until she got Parkinsons.  Boy, that disease does a number on your writing.......not to mention a lot of other things.

[Alsee]

That one symbol is "with the", not "at the".  At would be straight, not with that little loop. I do remember that.