My John Hancock

 

John Hancock (1736-1793) had an iconic signature.  It was the first and most prominent signature on the Declaration of Independence.  Hancock was President of the Second Continental Congress.  His signature on the Declaration of Independence was so much larger than everyone else’s.  That signature became a symbol of bold and defiant patriotism.  His name became and still is a colloquial synonym for one’s signature in the US e.g. “put your John Hancock on the dotted line.”  Hancock was a politician and a very successful businessman.  Beyond his role in the Continental Congress, he was the first and third governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  Buildings are named for him in Boston and Chicago.  In 1862, an insurance company was founded, adopted his name for the enterprise, and, to this day, uses his famous signature as their corporate logo.  

Somewhere around the age of 11 or 12, I became fascinated with Hancock’s signature.  It was due to reading the Declaration of Independence both in a social studies class and in seeking a Citizenship in the Nation merit badge Boy Scouts.  Needless to say, Hancock’s signature stood out.  I admired penmanship to be sure.  But the part that fascinated me was the loopy artistic adornment that was below his name (is there actually a name for such an adornment?).  I thought it was sophisticated, elegant, and evoked a level of education and confidence.  I spent some time copying the ornamental doodle and practicing it until it became routine.  I then began to apply it to my own signature, not that I had very many occasions to use it.  It made me feel a grown-up and definitely a bit Hancockian.  

 

After a while, it began to feel a bit awkward, a bit contrived, and just not me. 

When it came time to sign things, my signature has evolved.  In my twenties,  I used my full first, middle, and last name.  That became my first name, middle name initial, and my last name in my thirties.  In my forties and fifties, I simply used my first and last names.  More recently, I use my first and middle name initials and my last name and I have added a swoopy graphic under the signature that feels more natural, more me.  

Over those years, I noticed that others had stylized and unique signatures.  Certainly, artists like Picasso, Rembrandt, and Matisse, politicians such as Barack Obama and Donald Trump, and many other noted writers and celebrities.  While working in Latin America, I noticed many of the executives I worked with had very elaborate signatures.  I assumed that they had put some serious creative thought into designing and considerable practice into making the signature incredibly repeatable.  I was impressed that I did spend some more time on mine.  I am happy with my signature.  It is not overly ornate nor is it always look the same.  As a statistician, I like that there is some variation in it and I love the little swoopy graphic under it.

     There are websites that will generate a signature for you.  Before the internet, notable people of means would contract specialists to design a signature for the them.  One example is the founder of the Republic of Turkey, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, who employed an Armenian, Hagop Vahram Çerçiyan, to do just that.  Çerçiyan was a professor of mathematics, geography, and calligraphy at Istanbul’s Robert College, now Boğaziçi University.  You can’t make these things up.

Here are a few webite of a few other famous signatures:  Quora and Tamino Autographs.