How to Write Letters (Formerly The Book of Letters) Part 3

A divorced woman, if she retains her husband's name, signs her letters with her given name and her own surname followed by her husband's name, thus:

Janet Hawkins Carr.

and in a business communication:

Janet Hawkins Carr (Mrs. Janet Hawkins Carr).

A signature should always be made by hand and in ink. The signature to a business letter may be simply the name of the writer. Business firms or corporations have the name of the firm typed above the written signature of the writer of the letter. Then in type below comes his official position. Thus:

Hall, Haines & Company (typewritten) _Alfred Jennings_ (handwritten) Cashier (typewritten).

If he is not an official, his signature is preceded by the word "By."

In the case of form letters or routine correspondence the name of the person directly responsible for the letter may be signed by a clerk with his initials just below it. Some business firms have the name of the person responsible for the letter typed immediately under the name of the firm and then his signature below that. This custom counteracts illegibility in signatures.

In circular letters the matter of a personal signature is a very important one. Some good points on this subject may be gathered from the following extract from _Printers' Ink_.

Who shall sign a circular letter depends largely on circ.u.mstances entering individual cases. Generally speaking, every letter should be tested on a trial list before it is sent out in large quant.i.ties. It is inadvisable to hazard an uncertain letter idea on a large list until the value of the plan, as applied to that particular business, has been tried out.

There are certain things about letter procedure, however, that experience has demonstrated to be fundamental. One of these platforms is that it is best to sign the letter with some individual's name. Covering up the responsibility for the letter with such a general term as "sales department" or "advertising department" takes all personality out of the missive and to that extent weakens the power of the message. But even in this we should be chary of following inflexible rules. We can conceive of circ.u.mstances where it would be advisable to have the letter come from a department rather than from an individual.

Of course the management of many business organizations still holds that all letters should be signed by the company only. If the personal touch is permitted at all, the extent of it is to allow the writer of the letter to subscribe his initials. This idea, however, is pretty generally regarded as old-fashioned and is fast dying out.

Most companies favor the plan of having the head of the department sign the circular letters emanating from his department. If he doesn't actually dictate the letter himself, no tell-tale signs such as the initials of the actual dictator should be made. If it is a sales matter, the letter would bear the signature of the sales manager. If the communication pertained to advertising, it would be signed by the advertising manager. Where it is desired to give unusual emphasis to the letter, it might occasionally be attributed to the president or to some other official higher up. The big name idea should not be overdone. People will soon catch on that the president would not have time to answer all of the company's correspondence. If he has, it is evident that a very small business must be done.

A better idea that is coming into wide vogue is to have the letter signed by the man in the company who comes into occasional personal contact with the addressee. One concern has the house salesman who waits on customers coming from that section of the country when they visit headquarters sign all promotion letters going to them. The house salesman is the only one in the firm whom the customer knows. It is reasoned that the latter will give greater heed to a letter coming from a man with whom he is on friendly terms. Another company has its branch managers take the responsibility for circular letters sent to the trade in that territory. Another manufacturer has his salesmen bunched in crews of six. Each crew is headed by a leader. This man has to sell, just as his men do, but in addition he acts as a sort of district sales manager. All trade letters going out in his district carry the crew leader's signature.

There is much to be said in favor of this vogue. Personal contact is so valuable in all business transactions that its influence should be used in letters, in so far as it is practicable to do so.

The signature should not vary. Do not sign "G. Smith" to one letter, "George Smith" to another, and "G. B. Smith" to a third.

A man should never prefix to his signature any t.i.tle, as "Mr.," "Prof.,"

or "Dr."

A postscript is sometimes appended to a business letter, but the letters "P.S." do not appear. It is not, however, used as formerly--to express some thought which the writer forgot to include in the letter, or an afterthought. But on account of its unique position in the letter, it is used to place special emphasis on an important thought.

7. THE SUPERSCRIPTION

In the outside address or superscription of a letter the following forms are observed:

A letter to a woman must always address her as either "Mrs." or "Miss,"

unless she is a professional woman with a t.i.tle such as "Dr." But this t.i.tle is used only if the letter is a professional one. It is not employed in social correspondence. A woman is never addressed by her husband's t.i.tle, as "Mrs. Captain Bartlett."

A married woman is addressed with "Mrs." prefixed to her husband's name, as "Mrs. David Greene." This holds even if her husband is dead.

A divorced woman is addressed (unless she is allowed by the courts to use her maiden name) as "Mrs." followed by her maiden name and her former husband's surname, as: "Mrs. Edna Boyce Blair," "Edna Boyce"

being her maiden name.

A man should be given his t.i.tle if he possess one. Otherwise he must be addressed as "Mr." or "Esq."

t.i.tles of those holding public office, of physicians, of the clergy, and of professors, are generally abbreviated on the envelope except in formal letters.

It is rather customary to address social letters to "Edward Beech, Esq.," business letters to "Mr. Edward Beech," and a tradesman's letter to "Peter Moore." A servant is addressed as "William White."

The idea has arisen, and it would seem erroneous, that if the man addressed had also "Sr." or "Jr." attached, the t.i.tle "Mr." or "Esq."

should not be used. There is neither rhyme nor reason for this, as "Sr."

and "Jr." are certainly not t.i.tles and using "Mr." or "Esq." would not be a duplication. So the proper mode of address would be

Mr. John Evans, Jr.

or

John Evans, Jr., Esq.

The "Sr." is not always necessary as it may be understood.

Business envelopes should have the address of the writer printed in the upper left-hand corner as a return address. This s.p.a.ce should not be used for advertising.

In addressing children's letters, it should be remembered that a letter to a girl child is addressed to "Miss Jane Green," regardless of the age of the child. But a little boy should be addressed as "Master Joseph Green."

The address when completed should be slightly below the middle of the envelope and equidistant from right and left edges. The slanting or the straight-edge form may be used, to agree with the indented or the block style of paragraphing respectively.

Punctuation at the ends of the lines in the envelope address is not generally used.

The post office prefers the slanting edge form of address, thus:

(not) ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ---------------- ----------------

If there is a special address, such as "General Delivery," "Personal,"

or "Please forward," it should be placed at the lower left-hand corner of the envelope.

CHAPTER IV

BEING APPROPRIATE--WHAT TO AVOID

COMMON OFFENSES

Under this head are grouped a few of the more common offenses against good form in letter writing; some of these have been touched on in other chapters.

Never use ruled paper for any correspondence.

Never use tinted paper for business letters.