y known firms, or where the name
of the firm itself indicates it, reference to the nature
of the business is often omitted from letterheads 14

Specimens of letterheads used for official stationery 27

As to the use of the symbol "&" and the abbreviation
of the word "Company," the safest plan in
writing to a company is to spell its name exactly as
it appears on its letterhead 42

Specimen of formal wedding invitation 48

Specimens of formal invitations to a wedding reception 51

Specimen of wedding announcement 54

Specimens of formal dinner invitations 60

Specimens of formal invitations "to meet" 63

Specimens of formal invitations to a dance 68

Specimens of business letterheads 140

Arrangement of a business letter (block form) 144

Arrangement of a business letter (indented form) 145

Specimens of business letterheads used by English
firms 207

Specimens of addressed social stationery 259

Specimens of addressed social stationery 260

The monograms in the best taste are the small round
ones, but many pleasing designs may be had in
the diamond, square, and oblong shapes 262

Specimens of crested letter and notepaper 263

Specimens of monogrammed stationery 266

Specimens of business letterheads 267

Department stores and firms that write many letters
to women often employ a notepaper size 270

Specimens of stationery used by men for personal
business letters 271

HOW TO WRITE LETTERS

CHAPTER I

WHAT IS A LETTER?

It is not so long since most personal letters, after an extremely formal
salutation, began "I take my pen in hand." We do not see that so much
nowadays, but the spirit lingers. Pick up the average letter and you
cannot fail to discover that the writer has grimly taken his pen in hand
and, filled with one thought, has attacked the paper. That one thought
is to get the thing over with.

And perhaps this attitude of gett