I received a new company credit card today and had to sign it.
I can’t remember the last time I physically signed anything and so my physical memory of my signature had gone!
I made a scrawl that I am sure I can replicate if needed.
The demise of the signature
by 90 Comments
Made me recall the days of the swipe of your credit card with the three carbon copies and the retailer to agree that the signature on that matched the one on the card before the purchase could be completed.
Digital life is so much easier.
My 15 year old has just confirmed he has never been asked to physically sign anything ever.
I remember back in 2003 trying to buy some items for an away trip with my debit card, and having the signature declined by the store manager, despite it matching. Not sure what the manager was up to – why was he checking the signatures anyway, as there were several tills in that shop. Was he on a bonus or something?
I went and bought what I wanted from somewhere else instead, where I had no problems. Anyway, that store closed soon afterwards, and the whole chain was gone within two years.
I worked in a bank as a cashier over the summer holidays ooh, getting on for 30 years ago. Occasional y we would use those credit card swipers. Quite good at taking the skin off your knuckles IIRC.
Back in the day, I recall they were called whimwham machines in the Sainsbury’s I worked in.
Got a new passport a couple of weeks ago, and like you it’s been a while since I signed something.
The scribble looks similar, but not sure it’s spot on as I’m somewhat out of practice.
Even our once archaic workplace – a paper form for everything – went electronic (no choice really, since covid and increased working from home, no bugger is about to print of stuff in triplicate and add a wet signature)
Sometimes you need to sign for deliveries – I’m presented with an iPad and make a sort of squiggle with my fingertip.
It’s impossible to squiggle a recognisable signature on those digital devices.
This is a fact.
My signature with a pen is still pretty much the same as it’s been since my teens. Very rarely need to use it. Last time was signing the back of a new bank card in August. A signature that probably no-one else will ever look at.
This year, for the first time ever, renewing the rental agreement for my flat was completely digital. No need to go into the letting agent’s office, as used to be the case, no signature required. Just agreement of terms in an online app, from an emailed link. Paper printed version for my files mailed out to me a week or so after.
I have a box of ballpoint pens left over from my working days. Haven’t used one (for signature, see above) in ages. For everyday note-taking I prefer mechanical pencils, these days. On scrap paper. Official letters that only use one side, cut up.
Donald Trump is clearly one exception to the rule but he is a bit older than me!
Trump’s signature looks like something a high school kid came up with.
I’ve seen it likened to as an ‘aggressive cardiogram signature.’
Mine looks like the cover of Dark Side of the Moon. In black and white, of course.
You don’t think he created that himself do you? Someone who read a graphology book probably told him to change it to this one because those are the hallmarks of a powerful Alpha dominant gorilla male person, chair, man, woman, camera. Sorry, got carried away at the end there.
Anyone still own and use a fountain pen?
I own one but haven’t used it in over 20 years.
The Abingdon ink retailler was even gone when I moved here. in 1998.
I have to use, erm, “specialist” shops online…
Had to use one when working as a wedding registrar with ‘special’ ink.
Still have my father’s left-handed Parker pen and a few of my own.
I do indeed – or rather Mrs thep does. Her former meditation guru mysteriously left it to her in his will. Her precise words were, ‘What the fuck am I going to do with that?’
Sell it, was my reply. Unfortunately the barrel is cracked so its value is significantly reduced.
Nice little Mont Blanc. I have one like that, that I won in a competition. I barely use it, as I find bottles of ink a faff.
My writing preference is with a rollerball type pen, a cross between fibre tip and biro, with my greatest use being the transcription of details onto the blank inserts of cdrs, given the number of originally downloads in my collection. I was an avid member of e music, the monthly subscription arrangement that was so popular in the noughties. Now most my review copies are DLs, too.
Best ballpoint I ever found (ie, nicest writer) was a Caran D’Ache 849: writes smooth as silk; refills last for miles; superbly engineered design; and metal-bodied (to stand the odd drop). They even do a decent green refill (huzzah!).
Is the green ink for writing letters to local newspapers?
You’d think so, wouldn’t you? But no: it’s an historical anachronism from my job, no longer relevant – but I still like the ink colour, provided it’s dark enough.
849:
https://cultpens.com/products/caran-dache-metal-collection-classic-line-849-ballpoint-pen
Over the years I had three sets of lovely ink pen/biro/pencil in a little wallet – all disappeared at work. Very annoying.
Arf! Decent pens at work are like personalised/favourite mugs: short love and always disappear.
Week one working on the wards as a student nurse I was told “always keep your pen in your pocket, otherwise they walk.” I still do to this day (I also have to keep a set of cutlery in my bag as those things go missing in the office too).
@fitterstoke
Have a lovely Parker Duofold (my third – the previous two having been stolen in places a Parker Duofold pen had no business being).
Used to use the pen quite a lot when I still worked with agencies.
Stopped using the pen regularly about 25 years ago. I simply got tired of colleagues/clients getting miffed when I respectfully declined their requests to look at and/or ‘try’ the pen.
Reason for this is that fountain pen nibs are uniquely adapted to the pressure their owner imparts when writing. and that unfamiliar users with their own writing style will destroy the nib’s balance.
V. nice. I have a Duofold Centennial – up until fairly recently it mostly stayed in its box, only out for special occasions. I use a TWSBI Eco-T and a Lamy Safari demonstrator for everyday use.
However, I’m now thinking – what the hell am I saving it for? So it now lives in my jacket pocket and has become my main pen.
I have a couple. I have a Kaweco AL Sport. Designed to be kept in a trouser pocket (originally designed for sports coaches). It just looks nice and is very functional. I also have a Lamy metal body fountain pen. I still make notes on paper.
You’re darn tootin’ I do.
I have five. Two Parker Sonnets, one all steel, the other steel with gold nib. Two Parker 45’s, one with a left handed italic nib (because I’m left handed) and a Parker 51. The latter a gift from my daughter last birthday.
Along with a wide selection of Diamine Inks
I use them all regularly. Currently the italic nibbed Parker 45 for titles and headings filled with Diamine Hope Pink, along with the Parker Sonnet Steel for note taking filled with Diamine Mediterranean Blue.
I take lots of handwritten notes at work. Or, at least,I choose to because I enjoy the physical act of writing. My handwriting is neat and legible rather than exceptional or calligraphic. I’ve used fountain pens since school and always liked the smooth feel of the nib across paper.
Speaking of which I tend to use Leuchtturm 1917 notebooks and tomeo river paper notebooks.
I love all that shit.
EDIT: just seen Leedsboy’s post above. I also have two Kaweco’s. A Sport and a stainless steel Lilliput. Excellent little pens.
I like a nice grey – Diamine Graphite is my current favourite…
Agreed, Diamine Earl Grey is a lovely subtle shade.
Did you ever try the special that Diamine did for Cult Pens – Matthew, I think it was called? They had three or four colours named after staff members, I think – and Matthew was a nice dark grey.
No. I’ve only recently started using Diamine. I shall definitely check that line out.
Is it good? I have Lamy ink. The bottle is nice looking and it comes with the pen nib equivilant of a loo roll at the bottom for wiping after filling.
Well, I’ve never seen a bottle of Diamine with its own loo roll: but, apart from that, I like it.
https://cultpens.com/collections/diamine
It really is a loo roll.
“Too much cuttlefish in that bouillabaisse, last night, Marjorie”
“I’ll get the Lamy ink roll for you, Franklin”
“Better. And quickly”
It’s good. Some pleasant colour shades as mentioned, all more interesting than the standard Blue, Black and Blue/Black.
It does come in fancy glass bottles though I’ve been buying the smaller sized plastic ones. 30ml. Which is a lot of ink if you spill it. (I haven’t)
Amazon, of course, offer these in packs of 6 of varying colours. Good fun. Well, if you like ink…
…and there’s always Cult Pens (link above) if you object to the Evil Empire…
Ay caramba! There’s another money pit to fall into!
I remember my signature being closely checked in UK (and other parts of Europe) when using credit card, however on my first visit to US, nobody bothered to check it. And btw in certain US places one still has to sign even now.
I worked in retail when checking signatures was still the practice. A few times I pointed out to customers that their new card hadn’t been signed, and was told that it had already been used and no one else had noticed (or bothered checking evidently).
I used to sign my name literally 100s of times each morning and again each afternoon. Now prescriptions get sent electronically, directly to the pharmacy, that process accelerating through covid. And sick notes likewise no longer need signing. Last remaining need was/is blood request forms and bottles, should blood be taken there and then. Referral letters even get a digital signature,
Now I’m retired the nearest need for a signature is when you have to sign a screen, with your finger, for a recorded delivery, which never even begins to approximate what once was my elegant scrawl.
The signature on my card has faded to illegibility.
Never once been checked by a human.
This is going to sound a bit pathetic but I saw Bowie’s very simple autograph (it’s a big B followed by a straight line) on a Let’s Dance tour programme and decided to adopt a similar approach myself.
After a while, I perfected a longer swirly one and I use that when appropriate.
I have noticed that my adult children just seem to write their names with no flourishes.
I sign for deliveries and shipping documents in my work so I get plenty of practice. I was a big fan of Star Trek (the OS) as a kid and I recently noticed that the over-sized ‘J’ I use to start my sig looks very like the SS Enterprise (to me). Maybe I was influenced subconsciously…
I have also noticed that younger people tend to print their name rather than develop a recognisable signature.
I don’t often have to sign my full name, but at work I have to, as we say in Swedish; “put a crow on the line” – write a sort of shorthand squiggle signature, usually made up of the first letters of your first and second names. The “crow” is called that because we say “crows feet” about bad handwriting.
I use my crow at least five times a day. Full signature? Perhaps four times a year, at the most.
I made a very rare visit to the bank the other week to sell off some unit trusts that were languishing in an obscure account that I couldn’t sell from online.
After all the verification of my identify card (yes we have them here), I had to sign the forms for the sale and of course my signature did not match the one they had on record from 20+ years ago. After arguing with them that they had just verified photo ID and I was there in person, why should my signature make any difference, I still had to update my signature in their records. Gotta love bureaucracy.
When I was a vet many years ago I was constantly pestered by nurses wanting signatures on vaccination certificates. I used to tell them to do it themselves, as I had literally never been asked to verify a signature despite having signed tens of thousands of certificates over the years. They would always refuse, so I started signing my name as Marvin K. Mooney to prove my point. I remained unchallenged.
I get your point about bureaucracy, but what about if/when there’s an inquiry into a particular case? They will be looking at all parts of a procedure. Signing off anything with a false name or trying to get unauthorised people to do it (because no one checks) puts you at and the practice at risk. Even if it’s a meaningless certificate. I don’t blame the nurses for refusing.
I have two namesakes in the biz: one a technical author from Portsmouth, and the other a studio engineer in Sheffield (biggest claim to fame: engineering a shit Happy Mondays album).
I ordered a book by the author and asked for it to be signed. Back came the scrawl “Sign it yourself!”
He now follows me on BlueSky and we like the same bands. Weird, eh?
I still use a fountain pen and a block of paper for making notes. This is in part a conscious effort to slow down and consider my thoughts and what I am reading more carefully. For example, when I was reading the masterwork on trauma – The Body Keeps The Score – a complicated and detailed analysis of brain, mind and body interactions. I made 90+ A5 sized pages of notes, then digested that down to about 10 pages of focused notes,
Another reason is – it gets me away from the computer/smartphone screen – where I spend most of my working day. It’s the same reason I always ask for a whiteboard on the wall when I am moved to new office space – it takes me up out of my chair and thinking on my feet and moreover visually in connecting ideas.
Writing is also quite pleasurable – putting words down on page with a nice nib and ink is more tactile that moving my fingers somewhat awkwardly over a keyboard (I never learned properly to touch type).
Ironically, the signature is the one thing that I don’t often need to write. I have a scanned version, refined in MS Paint, that I can carefully insert into any document so it runs slightly over the text looking like it was done by hand. We are now slowly rolling out digital signatures proper, so that art of forgery will be superceded soon, anyway.
Here’s a picture of my reliable tools – the Exacompta pad cost about 30 Euros, but I can replace the paper with any I cut myself from A4 – either used one-sided, or fresh. The fountain pen has a font so fine I can write very small script, it uses either cartridges or suction pump from a bottle ( I prefer this, but it’s impractical and messy), and it is shorter than my finger when screwed together – so easily fits into a pocket.
Finally, as if that wasn’t enough from me, here’s an article noting the demise of handwriting and extolling its values for those who persist.
https://www.theguardian.com/news/2025/jan/21/signature-moves-are-we-losing-the-ability-to-write-by-hand
Another curious point in common, Sal: the Venn diagram overlap widens slightly…
And is that a Kaweco Sport (can’t quite make out the logo)?
LOL (both meanings). Are you an Exacompta user as well?
It is a Kaweco Sport, though the insignia is rather rubbed off now
https://cultpens.com/collections/kaweco-sport?productListPgNo=1
It’s a bit of a luxury and goes against my approach of having replaceable cheap items to reduce the stress of loss, but it writes so fine.
Both items from Manufactum – a German company, kind of equivalent to Habitat as was, or John Lewis – only higher class than both those.
Another Kaweco user here. I have the alluminium bodied one – it was a present. They are very practical and lovely to look at.
I’m still a fountain pen user.
For everday stuff, I use Pilot Varsity – dead cheap, and very decent. I keep the ‘nice’ pens for special stuff.
I found both a simple ballpoint and nib pen for under a tenner – both cartridge pens – from our local supermarket. Perfectly functional and non-disposable.
Only thing is, the world is awash with disposable Bics and the like. I guess sometime the world will wake up to this, like they have to single use plastic bags.
Why do you screw your finger together?
There’s a compartment inside with mini screwdrivers, alan keys*, a serrated blade and a Tippex pen.
*with ‘Peartree Productions’ etched on the side.
I was – hilariously – referring to your sentence “…and it is shorter than my finger when screwed together “. Grammar nerds can tell you what this construction is – a hanging participle perhaps? @mikethep?
Yes I know you were – once I searched the text for ‘screwed’, that is.
I thought I would make a joke in response about my finger being hollow, but I guess the point fell off (because I forgot to screw it together).
Possibly. Had I been sitting at Sal’s right hand, however (which of course I would never do, this being the Afterword), I would have pointed out that the words ‘when screwed together’ are redundant anyway, because only an idiot would put his pen in his pocket with the cap off.
Had I known (which of course I should have done, this being the Afterword) that not only did others know the name of the pen better than I did, but that several posts one (or several), I wouldn’t have used the phrase ‘when screwed together’ at all, or even referred to the compactness of the pen in general.
But the lid forming part of the barrel to make the pen shaft long enough to fit well in the hand between thumb base and fingertip grasp, but yet when closed being significantly shorter was one of the appeals of the pen when I first saw it.
This tactile pleasure is part of the draw to still using ink pens on a daily basis.
Also, it’s not so easy to sit over a laptop or smartphone and sketch your colleagues when a meeting turns dull.
I believe passionately in the right of my fellow person to use a pen of whatever length he pleases. You go right ahead, young Sal.
The Afterword – where people in the second half of their fifties merit the prefix ‘young’.
I’ll take that with pleasure, Mike. It’s a rare treat these days.
A pedantic Engineer writes: Allen keys.
Then I would have to make a joke about Toy Story or American sitcoms. I know it was wrong, but thought it more fun to leave it with a Partridge reference.
It’s a good job I don’t work as a comedian – people would laugh at the idea.
By the way, a pedantic professional text checker writes:
a) don’t correct language in comments, it’s against the AW guidelines
b) Isn’t it ‘A pedantic engineer’
c) Oops, I’ve broken a)
Arf!
I (Grade B English Language O-level, 1986) have often wondered whether I should refer to myself as Electronic Engineer or electronic engineer. EE seems an acceptable abbreviation whereas ee was some other fella.
In titles, with capitals. As a description, lower case.
My father was an engineer – a very important profession, so much more respected on the continent than here that he moved to Switzerland in the early 80s where he was shown far greater appreciation and opportunity.
Nowadays, I hope that ‘fentonsteve, Electronic Engineer’ carries far more weight than it might have done in the late 70s, when you might have been asked to wire a plug.
I learn something every day.
I met a neighbour out walking her dog the other day, and our conversation turned to early retirement.
“Mrs F is going to stop when she’s 60, but I’ll carry on for a while longer. I get paid to sit on my arse in my garage and tell people they’ve done it wrong. It isn’t hard work.”
“What is it you do again? Something to do with I.T.?”
So, no, the public do not carry me aloft in a sedan (Sedan?) chair.
I put B. Eng M. Eng after my name (signature) whenever the right opportunity presents itself. Never does though
@fentonsteve
cummings again?
No, {insert your choice of “it’s just the way I’m standing”/”my face always looks like that”/something crude}.
Where is that Moose when you need him to finish you off?
Top bloke – was at school with him. Same class as Davy Lamp.
Did the science teacher ever send you for a long stand?
My handwriting is awful and I’ve been tryng to improve it for a while. It’s quite legible but utterly chaotic. You basically need to learn to write again which is quite tedious.
Ages ago, early nineties I think, I realised that my handwriting was getting poor.
There was an article in one of the papers by an expert who said we are all taught to write clearly, but often getting sloppy in the execution of the distinctive characteristics of letters, so words can look just look like a lot of indistinguishable loops. Their advice was surprisingly obvious – dotting the i and crossing the t really does make them clearer, and I think the other piece of advice was to always close the circle in a and d and so on. Once you do this for a while, it becomes instinctive. It helped that I was a regular letter writer in those days which acted as a sort of discipline – writing to others unclearly, is a bit like talking with your hand over your mouth.
Handwriting in general is quickly disappearing. I only use it for shopping lists (which I can then barely read – is that mushrooms or mustard?) or scribbling lyrics when I’m songwriting. This will be at great detriment as there is a proven link between writing and the cognitive effect in terms of memory and understanding.
Still sign frequently in my capacity as a union rep: meeting minutes, witness notes, agreements and so on.
Keeps coming round as both a landlord and tenant and, oh boy, do you sign a lot of things when you’re executing a will.
What you all need in order to be digital *and* analog at the same time is a Remarkable.
Electronic paper doo-dah that you scribble on and it feels as close to damn paper as you can get, saves as a PDF, you can share stuff…
I’ve found myself *wanting* to write stuff on it, just ‘cos it feels nice. That’s most likely helped by the fact that there’s a fountain pen option.
I’ve got a pair of Parker Jotter pens on my desk, one black and the other red. They’ve both got Fisher Space Pen refills in them, which enable me to write upside down, or while lolling wonkily on a sofa, which used to come in handy when I was marking up proofs.
That said, I can barely write my own name these days. When we changed banks at work a few years ago, all the directors had to put their signatures on file as part of the application. I had to practise mine several times before I had the confidence to commit it to an official document.
My note-taking equipment is pictured here. Refillable mechanical pencil and a notebook of scrap paper made by dividing-up A4 letters, circulars etc. that have only been printed on one side.
Divide each sheet in half, then half again and then in half again, giving a bundle of A7-size pieces, which I hold together with a miniature bulldog clip to form a little notepad. Once scribbled upon you can either keep your pages or discard them.
I used to work for a life assurance company and for some reason they had to issue a large number of cheques to policyholders – probably some admin cockup – anyway, all managers were given temporary cheque signing authority an issued with a few hundred cheques to sign. After that my signature was a thing of beauty which is still is. Sadly what precedes it looks like a pissed spider staggered through a puddle of ink and then across the page.
I have a Parker Sonnet fountain pen and a matching rollerball, both of which demand reasonable attention to detail when writing. My signature, honed over many years, became a thing of intricate beauty (even if I do say so myself), and my handwriting used to get favourably remarked upon by colleagues at work. Since I retired 4 years ago I barely write anything and my writing has lapsed into an embarrassing illegible scrawl.
We’ve all been to Penis Land for our writing implements haven’t we?
https://www.penisland.net
I wrote a cheque last week for my mechanic…I looked at the stub to see the last one written and it was to him exactly a year ago. He is the only person I know now that won’t take a card payment. Why I mention it is because when I got home I couldn’t actually remember signing it, so had to call him to check that I had. Presumably it resembles the one from last year and the bank pay up…
The lovely French lady who cuts my hair only takes cash too. It’s like an extra from Allo Allo opened a barber shop.
Ompissible!
I have to sign a variety of documents as I’m a trustee to a couple of charities and a pension plan. The stipulation that instructions must be completed “on [company or charity name] letterhead and signed and witnessed” have become less frequent but there are still a few grimly getting their feet wet as the tide rolls in (I’m looking at you Crapita and L&G). Software like Docusign give a much more credible audit trail then a scribble on a bit of paper – had a couple of stand offs where I’ve just said “nope”. It’s currently 3-1 to me.
In my job, I have to sign my name, on certain days, about fifty times. Please don’t infer from this that I’m a Quincey-esque important type who’s saving human lives very loudly.