This can't be fully correct, though, at least for my (as-remote-as-it-gets) area. My father was born in '52 and had to learn it in school here. He still writes the small 'z' in Sütterlin, and it looks really nice.

Looks similar to the cursive z I learned - I guess in the late 70's/early 80's - in Scotland. It's still in my signature, although that's a right scrawl.

Hmm, I believe you. The article also says "Sütterlin continued to be taught in some German schools until the 1970s but no longer as the primary script.[citation needed]"