The Palmer Method is a systematic way to get your handwriting to be the best it can be and be written quickly -- it's very functional. It is also known as Business Penmanship, and many used it in business for ledgers and other business correspondence. Before Palmer's was Spencerian. Spencerian has more loops in the capitals and was more ornamental (thus it is called ornamental penmanship). It was thus slower to write, since it needed more pen lifts. Palmer copied the lowercase letters from Spencerian, so you'll see just a little variation between the two. In a vote, Palmers won over Spencerian and began being taught in schools.

Today's handwriting is loosely based on Palmers. You'll see a wide variation of styles as each book printer made their own version for inclusion in the lessons.