For what this means, see (or course) our very own One-Letter Words: A Dictionary (and though the hardcover is out of print, the e-version remains "out there").  Our illustration is from The Galaxy magazine, 1866.

From La Normandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse by Amélie Bosquet, 1845.

The caption to this figure identifies the three w's as being written by a monkey.  The other squiggle is unidentified, but we can now reveal it to be a translation of a Sapphic fragment defined by its decline into silence.  From The Evolution of Animal Intelligence by Samuel J. Holmes, 1911.

From Zauberlinda, the Wise Witch by Eva Katherine Clapp, 1901.

From Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray, 1900.

Does O envy Q's tail?  Wonder no more.  From Juvenile Instructor, 1917.

"Charlie isn't fooling," and it's only funny if Charlie is fooling.  From Journal of Electricity, 1918.

From La Normandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse by Amélie Bosquet, 1845.

From La Normandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse by Amélie Bosquet, 1845.

From St. Nicholas magazine, 1891.

From La Normandie Romanesque et Merveilleuse by Amélie Bosquet, 1845.

Here's who is minding your P's while you're minding your Q's.  From St. Nicholas magazine, 1900.  And note that Mr. Punch graces one of those rare drop capitals sporting a quotation mark.

It's commonly believed that the Q sports a tail, but it's actually a tongue.  From The Story of Doctor Dolittle by Hugh Lofting, 1920.

Here's someone minding his P's, if not technically his P's and Q's.  From Songs of Singularity or Lays for the Eccentric by the London Hermit, Walter Parke, 1875.

One of the many tools we use to create ornate capitals, from St. Nicholas magazine, 1900.