Web Vintage Literature

Chapter 3. The Make-up of a Business Letter

The first estimate a business man makes of an unknown correspondent is based on the appearance of his letter. A business man who is familiar with the ordinary conventional forms of a letter, is quick to notice any departure from the accepted standards. His first impulse upon receiving a communication of unusual shape or arrangement is to criticize. It breaks away from the routine; it obtrudes itself upon his attention; it attracts his notice in the same way as a peculiar snit of clothes or a house o odd design, a unique table service or any other object of every-day familiarity and use that departs from the forms to which he has been accustomed.

It is undoubtedly true that on rare occasions the effects of such changes are pleasing. But it is also true that the generally observed forms, especially of business letters, have been accepted for certain well defined reasons after practical experimenting. He who adopts new standards should do so cautiously and for cause; otherwise he may expect the same criticism that falls to him who adopts the unusual in dress or manner.

For practical purposes, the size of a sheet of business stationery should be approximately 8 by 11 inches; even though it vary an inch or two, in either dimension, it should observe about these proportions. This size has been established by no single authority or group of authorities, and a correspondent may vary it as he will; man once wrote a message on an oyster shell, stamped it, and the postal authorities, in the course of time, delivered it to the addressee. But the standard envelope is 3 1/2 by 6 1/2 inches in size, and a sheet about 8 by 11 inches folds into it very conveniently and is handled more quickly and safely by the post office than smaller envelopes that may get last in the shuffle; the miscarriage of small, odd shaped envelopes used for sending out personal cards and announcements has caused more than one social faux pas.

Furthermore, a sheet of these proportions is convenient to handle and to file. And as business houses generally observe the safe and sane usage, envelopes and sheets of standard size and form are preferred to the oyster shell school of originality. For legal documents, manuscripts and other large sheets, larger envelopes, also of standard size, are provided.

Every business letter should be written on business stationery-with a business letter head. It should be written on one side of the sheet only, and should be sent out in an envelope with the name and address of the sender printed, lithographed, engraved or otherwise clearly noted in the upper left corner, so that the official pointing-hand stamp of the post offices, with the instructions "return to sender" may be affixed, in case of non-delivery, without causing undue annoyance as in sometimes occasioned by placing the return address on the back of the envelope or in some other unusual place.

A copy should be kept of every communication that leaves the office. Either a carbon copy may be made at the time the letter is written (six good copies may be made simultaneously can the average typewriter machine, although only one is usually required) or a letter-press copy should be made from the sheet after it is signed. Both farms have been accepted by the courts as legal copies of correspondence. In the average office, constant reference is made to former correspondence; no business house can afford to ignore such a record.

Carbon copies are usually filed alphabetically either by the name of the company or individual to whom the letter is addressed; letter-press copies moat necessarily be filed chronologically, even when separate books for each letter of the alphabet are maintained. In either ass the search through the files for a letter copy is facilitated by placing the name, address and date of a letter at the top and in a uniform location.

The date of a letter should be placed in the upper right corner of the page; the recipient mast know when the communication is sent; it may have a bearing on other communications. The name and address of the addressee, similar to the address on the envelope, should in all cases be placed, as the formal salutation, in the upper left corner of the sheet, whether the correspondent be greeted "Dear Sir" or "Gentlemen." Not only does this establish at once the exact individual for whom the communication is intended, but it facilitates the filing of the correspondence, both by the recipient and by the sender. The margins of a business letter, owing to the limitations of the typewriter, are usually of variable width. The space occupied by the letterhead must, of course determine the margin at the top of the sheet. Theoretically, the margins at the left and right should be exactly the same size; practically, however, the type. writer lines will vary in length and cause an uneven edge on the right side. In printing, the me of many sized stage not only between the words but between the letters themselves, rectifies these variations, but the typewriter is not an equipped. The more even the right margin is and the more uniform it is to the left margin, the better the effect. The margin should be about one or me and a half inches in width.

The margin at the bottom should not be smaller and preferably greater than the aide margins. Should it be smaller, the page will at once appear cramped for space, as the reading matter will be really running over into the margin-a typographical blunder that is as noticeable on typewritten as on printed pages.

The spacing between the lines and between the paragraphs of a business letter may vary somewhat to suit the tastes of the individual although considerations of a practical nature tend to establish a few general principle. Both for purposes of convenience and of economy, for instance, a letter should be as compact se possible, both in words and in mechanical production -- it should not take up two sheets if me will serve. Hence most business letters are single space only a single space on the typewriter separates one line from another. Even when a letter is short, it is advisable for purposes of uniformity, to me single spaces only.

The first line of each paragraph is usually indented from five to fifteen points on the machine-each business house should establish exactly what this indentation shall be in order to secure uniformity in its correspondence. Instead of indenting the first line, some concerns designate the paragraphs by merely separating them by several spacing, and typewriting the first line squarely upon the left margin. The beat practice, however, seems to embody both o these methods, and the average business letter usually has its paragraphs separated by a spacing two or three times as great as the spacings between the lines and the first line of the paragraph is usually indented.

The use of uniform typewriter ribbons on all the machines operated by one concern is rapidly and properly coming into favor. It is good business to have all the letters issuing from me horse of similar appearance. They should be uniform typographically-in spacings, margins, forms of salutation, addressing. And no me item is more important in securing this uniformity than similarity in the color of the typewriter ribbon. In recognition of this fact, most concerns now furnish their typists with ribbons that are bought in lots and kept in stock. Purple ribbons are perhaps the most popular, not only because the color is bold but also because the chemical ingredients used blend well and give a smooth, durable impression on the paper.

The address on the envelope, to which the salutation at the top of the letter should correspond either exactly or in slightly condensed form, may be properly typewritten in various ways. The style that is most observed, however, and which therefore has the stamp of general approval, provides for an indentation of about five points on each line of the address.

The spacings between the lines are usually single or double; greater spacing tends to separate the address too much to allow it to be quickly read. Still another approved though less popular form of address does net indent the lines at all.

Any radical departure from these forms should be made cautiously, especially if the various items of the address are separated from each other. The address, like a paragraph, is generally read as a unit-se a single, distinct idea. The closer the address conforms to the generally accepted forms, the mare readily are the envelopes handled by the post office and with less danger of delay or loss.

Even when all of the above details in the mechanical production of a business letter have been carefully ob. served, its effect may be destroyed by carelessness. A conspicuous erasure on the sheet, a blot, or a finger mark nullifies the impression that is created by an otherwise perfect page. Care should be taken to guard against creating any wrong impression.

The Right Letter

Unnamed trifles and unconscious impressions drag sales across the line of profit.

The stupid, ill-dressed letter dissuades more buyers than all the errors salesmen make.

The neat and self-forgetful sheet brings with it its own "welcome" motto.