Florida woman finds WW II message in a bottle in tropical storm Debby's wake

[oldbrownhat]

Article here.

The Odessa, Fla., woman was in nearby Safety Harbor last week, cleaning up some of the plastic and debris that had washed up in the flood waters from tropical storm Debby, when she came across a glass bottle with a hand-written note inside...

She took the bottle home and opened it with her family. Inside, they found a bullet casing, a candy-sized iron ball and some sand.

"Half of the letter was faded, but some of it was very clear. And one thing that was clear was the date," she said.
​

[March 13, 1945, for those that haven't read the article ]

...The letter, addressed simply to "Lee," and the letterhead indicated it was sent from the Amphibious Training Base in Little Creek, Va.

The base — more than 1,300 kilometres from where Flament-Smith found the bottle — is still operational today, under the name Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story...

...It reads, in part: "Received your letter yesterday. Was glad to hear from you. So you got a little lit up the other day. Well, that is a everyday thing around here. They have a bar and they have pretty good beer."​

But this is what caught my eye:

Flament-Smith says she could only make out parts of the letter. (Her daughter, unfamiliar with cursive handwriting, couldn't read a word of it, she said.)

​

I am suddenly feeling old.

 

[boykinlp]

At 63 years old, obviously I was taught cursive writing in elementary school. I used to have a nice looking cursive handwriting, slowly but surely I stopped writing in cursive. In middle school I even took a calligraphy class. A while back I started thinking about it, and the fact that many folks nowadays can't even read it. I thought it was a shame and now I try to write in cursive at times to "reintroduce" it to others. About 5 years ago I remember I even looked to see if there was a way to make my font used, anytime I wrote something online, cursive. I don't remember what I found, but I probably would have been banned from the internet if I had started using it!

I do enjoy writing in cursive, but I have noticed it takes considerably longer since I am not in the habit.
Larry

 

[444 Magnum]

I was teaching an adult class with ages ranging from 35-45. I handed out copies of my hand written notes which were in cursive.

One guy (a friend) asked me what the gibberish was. I told him it was cursive for the literate members of the class.

No more questions about the cursive...

 

[Rustyt1953]

I haven't used cursive since high school. Also, none of my time pieces have a clock face.

Yet, I muddled through.

 

[SMSgt]

I haven't used cursive since high school. Also, none of my time pieces have a clock face.

Yet, I muddled through.

Contrary as you are. The only time I use cursive is for my signature, and even I cannot read it.

 

[Telecaster]

Us old people are the new Code Writers.

 

[Ματθιας]

A couple of months ago I had to drop a power steering pump at a shop to get the pulley pulled and the mounting bracket transferred from the old one to the new one. I told them that I wasn't in a hurry and that when they get to it, they get to it. Call me when it's done. I wrote my name "Mateo", my cell number and what it was for, "70s Ford F150". Mind you it was in cursive. I asked the guy if he could read my writing, "no problem" he says. Two days go by and I drop by to see what's going on and a young girl, probably early 20s was at the counter and says, she couldn't call me because she couldn't read my writing(!). I guess the numbers were in cursive, too!

I write in cursive all the time. it's quicker.

On the hand written print side, I have an old Z/28 that I had pulled out of the car cover and parked on the street. It was on the street for the better part of the Saturday and a young guy walks up, rings the doorbell and asks if the car is for sale. It's always "no". More often than not, they always ask me what my "I don't want to sell price is". The I don't want to sell price is "25 Canadian 1oz gold maple leaf coins delivered to my bank". That usually ends the questioning.
Anyway, I thought it was over. About an hour later he shows up again, gets out of his car and places a piece of paper under the windshield wiper. It was hand written print. It looked like it was a mix of Klingon, Japanese, Chinese, Cuneiform, and Hieroglyphics. I could barely read it! It was a bit snarky. If I can find it I'll post a picture of it!

 

[oldbrownhat]

...One guy (a friend) asked me what the gibberish was. I told him it was cursive for the literate members of the class. ..

Nice one!

The only time I use cursive is for my signature, and even I cannot read it.

Mine is similar to John Hancock's (OK- not as famous) but really gets screwed up when I have to electronically sign a payment at a restaurant with my fingernail.

Like RustyT1953 and probably many others, I almost never have to write cursive any more and get along just fine, but not being able to at least read it is..... sad at best.

 

[444 Magnum]

I know they don't teach cursive anymore because most everything is typed now or 'clicked' on. I get it; but, when I do write, cursive is much easier and fluid.
I love receiving and reading cards, letters, etc. from people with excellent penmanship. (That's a word that will vanish soon.) I even complement people when I receive something with beautiful handwriting. Unfortunately, it's disappearing quickly like many of the good old ways.
I guess becoming a handwriting expert is a dead-end career path these days.
"Please tell the court, sir, in your expert opinion, is this the 'X' of the defendant?"

 

[A10]

I sign in cursive...people curse when reading it!

 

[oldbrownhat]

I sign in cursive...people curse when reading it!

Are you a doctor, by any chance?

 

[rwsmith]

69....learned cursive.......

I have HORRIBLE handwriting. However, I was a draftsman and a bit of an artist, so I can 'letter' on the drawing well and even do calligraphy, which I really enjoyed. Consequently, I can print fairly well, but my cursive is unreadable unless I REALLY take my time, which I rarely do.

 

[A10]

Are you a doctor, by any chance?

And I've never played one on TV!

 

[Golddollar]

I have HORRIBLE handwriting. However, I was a draftsman and a bit of an artist, so I can 'letter' on the drawing well and even do calligraphy, which I really enjoyed. Consequently, I can print fairly well, but my cursive is unreadable unless I REALLY take my time, which I rarely do.

I used to do flowcharts of property ownership and I tried to put 60 years of history on one sheet of legal paper. So that the staff could read everything, I also learned how to print very legibly. I could easily put three lines of characters in one space of a sheet of legal paper, and it would be perfectly legible for future generations to read. If I really tried hard I could put 4 lines of characters in the same space.

 

[Rudi]

Article here.

The Odessa, Fla., woman was in nearby Safety Harbor last week, cleaning up some of the plastic and debris that had washed up in the flood waters from tropical storm Debby, when she came across a glass bottle with a hand-written note inside...

She took the bottle home and opened it with her family. Inside, they found a bullet casing, a candy-sized iron ball and some sand.

"Half of the letter was faded, but some of it was very clear. And one thing that was clear was the date," she said.

...The letter, addressed simply to "Lee," and the letterhead indicated it was sent from the Amphibious Training Base in Little Creek, Va.

The base — more than 1,300 kilometres from where Flament-Smith found the bottle — is still operational today, under the name Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek-Fort Story...

...It reads, in part: "Received your letter yesterday. Was glad to hear from you. So you got a little lit up the other day. Well, that is a everyday thing around here. They have a bar and they have pretty good beer."​

But this is what caught my eye:

Flament-Smith says she could only make out parts of the letter. (Her daughter, unfamiliar with cursive handwriting, couldn't read a word of it, she said.)

​

I am suddenly feeling old.

She never says what the date was? Or am I missing something?

 

[Chik a Boom]

Of course they don't teach cursive...that's what the constitution is written in.

 

[Golddollar]

My surveyor friends are saying that it's tough to teach young people to be surveyors because old deeds are written in cursive and cursive isn't being taught in school now.

 

[oldbrownhat]

She never says what the date was? Or am I missing something?

According to the article:

"Half of the letter was faded, but some of it was very clear. And one thing that was clear was the date," she said.

It was dated March 3, 1945 — the final year of the Second World War. The paper had a U.S. navy letterhead.
​

 

[oldbrownhat]

... If I really tried hard I could put 4 lines of characters in the same space.

That's about 3pt type size, like what the crucial instructions on spray paints and such are printed at - whereas the safety warning phrases, which are far longer and more detailed/boriing, are in 8 pt. But I bet your handwritten lettering was crisper than the printed stuff. You must have been using a 3-0 Rapidograph pen.

I need to use a magnifier to read those labels and often just "spray and pray"

 

[bullmack]

My surveyor friends are saying that it's tough to teach young people to be surveyors because old deeds are written in cursive and cursive isn't being taught in school now.

I learned cursive in school and still use it although it has morphed into a combination print/cursive. I'm 3 years into some historical research on the deeds for approx. 50 Vermont lake properties from 1870-1905. The properties were originally part of 3 farms and the original land owners date back to 1762. So yes, lots of cursive. Some of it is very elegant - some not so much. The phrasing used back in those times also took getting used to. The properties were laid out in chains, rods, and links and self surveyed. The last kicker was the use of trees as boundary markers. Most of the tress are long gone.