For my latest novella, Perfectly
Mismatched, Book 1 of Sweethearts of Jubilee Springs, I started out to research
parlor games from the 1870s-1880s to discover an activity the mail-order brides
and prospective grooms could participate in. Like we in contemporary times
might play the game where a name is pinned to your back, and you have to guess
who it is.
What I learned is that graphology, or the analysis of
handwriting, was quite the rage during Victorian times. As was phrenology,
which is the interpretation of the bumps on a person’s head, and was used in
psychiatry. Many claim both to be only
pseudo-science--but much of that was discovered long after the times when
people enjoyed the practices as entertainment.
Graphology consists of a system of comparative analysis made
on specific letters: a, e, g, I, m, o, p, t, w, and s. A person writes the two
words: ‘two magpies’, and the “expert” pulls from the writer’s handwriting
style differences in temperament such as: being shy or gregarious, being sedate
or physically active, if the person is an attention-seeker, fears success, have
an upbeat or downbeat personality, generous or stingy, etc.
As I read about the study, I envisioned how a person could
use a newly acquired skill like this to set herself apart as a matchmaker, hoping
to give herself an edge over the competition. Mail-order bride agencies and
newsletters were used on a regular basis as a way to entice women to relocate
to the western part of American. In my story, the matchmaker who has been hired
to provide brides for bachelor miners in a Colorado town feels she has a way to
pre-determine which men and which women might be good matches based on
similarities she sees in their handwriting. But as with all stories, everything
doesn’t go as planned.
Tagline: Running from the past to a new home and name, she runs
into a man who follows the rules to the letter.
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts about if handwriting
can reveal personality traits. One commenter’s name will be chosen on Sunday,
June 25th at 3PM, to win an electronic copy of any backlist title.
Hi Linda,
ReplyDeleteWhat a great set-up for a story! I have had my handwriting analyzed and the results were spot-on for my personality. And I have heard employers use it for hiring purposes (I think more in Europe than in the U.S.) Best wishes on this new book. It sounds like a fun story. Sharing your post here!
Some people still use handwriting analysis. It's a fascinating concept and I can see you put it to good use. Doris
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