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Michelle Dresbold says signatures show the world who we are: whether intentionally or unintentionally. But our signature does not always match the rest of our writing or the image we portray.
A good example of this is Elvis Presley. His signature has large lower loops, which show his desire for many things including sex. However the rest of his handwriting has minimal lower loops, meaning he did not feel sexy. "Elvis presented himself as a sex symbol when he really didn't feel that he was," Dresbold says. Priscilla Presley has said that the only time she and Elvis ever had sex was on their honeymoon. And after becoming pregnant from that encounter they never had sex again.
Intentional vs. unintentional additions to handwriting can be seen in two of the most successful singer and pianists of our time: Liberace and Sir Elton John. Liberace adorns his signature with an elaborate drawing of a piano because he feels that shows who he is. His addition is deliberate Elton John has a phallic symbol in his signature that Dresbold says is unintentional but shows unusual sexual habits. She also says phallic symbols in signatures are not uncommon.
Laci Peterson is another example of intentionally adding something to your signature that you feel is representative of who you are. Laci adds a smiley face that is indicative of her sunny personality.
Joan Crawford's signature is a good example of an involuntary addition. Looking at her signature you can clearly see the word God in the last name of the screen legend and inspiration of the tell-all book "Mommie Dearest." Crawford also underlines her name a few times as if to say "look at me."
Jimi Hendrix and Jack Ruby probably don't have much in common. Hendrix is a rock legend and Ruby is known for killing alleged John F. Kennedy assassin Lee Harvey Oswald. But both men's signatures have a clear "X" in them, which means they were self destructive and often put themselves in bad situations.
The signature of O.J. Simpson has what Dresbold calls the forked tongue stroke. This is the extra line in the letter "O." She says this stroke is a sign of a liar. Simpson is not the only person accused of murder who has some sort of sign of lying in their penmanship.
When John Mark Karr confessed to the 1996 killing of Jon Benet Ramsey, many people just assumed he was guilty. After all, innocent people don't confess to crimes they didn't commit, right? Then again, dozens of people confessed to the Jack the Ripper murders. But as soon as Dresbold saw Karr's writing she knew he was innocent and that he only confessed for the attention it would bring him. "There are several things in his signature that show his motivation to confess," she says. "He shows an extreme desire for fame - even in high school." And as Dresbold says, the mindset for many people is that if you can't be famous, be infamous. And what better way than to confess to a high-profile crime?
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