4. The parts of a letter.—The conventionalized parts of a business letter are the letterhead, or the heading, the address, the salutation, the body, the complimentary close, the signature, and information solely for the convenience of the writer, such as the writer's initials and those of the stenographer in the lower left-hand corner.
When a letterhead is used, the typed heading con sists of the date only. When there is no printed let terhead, the typed heading should include full infor mation concerning the address of the writer. It is placed in the upper right-hand corner of the type space. This type space varies in size and shape, in accordance with the principle of balance, with respect to the amount of typed matter to be included on the page. An expert stenographer will always estimate the amount of type space required for a letter before it is written, and then will write it in such a way that the typed matter will be framed by a border of white space of pleasing proportions.
5. Letterhead.—A plain letterhead without orna mentation or illustration is preferred by a majority of leading business houses. The purpose of illus trated letterheads is often merely to do "free" adver tising, and the effect is likely to be about the same as when a firm sends with a letter "stuffers" bearing printed matter whose subject is unrelated to that of the letter itself. On the other hand, if the illus trated letterhead bears information that makes the message of the letter more complete, or which in any other way distinctly serves the interests of the ad dressee, the general objection to the use of illustra tions on letterheads may not apply. Nevertheless, a plain letterhead is usually preferable.
If a concern has several branches, it is important that each branch indicate its address on its own let terhead in red ink, or by some kind of distinctive typ ing. If this is not done, an addressee will often send a letter to the wrong branch. The same thing is true when several names appear on the letterhead and the name of the official who writes the letter is not apparent at a glance.
It is sometimes necessary to include also informa tion concerning terms, the liability of the company in case of strikes, and other notations of a protec tive nature; but it is best, if possible, to omit ma terial of this kind.
Another matter of considerable importance is the design of the letterhead. It should be appropriate to, and consistent with, the character of the business. As a rule, it ought to be centered at the top of the page, rather than placed off at one side; and its length should seldom be more than about one-fifth that of the page—that is, from an inch and a half to two and a half inches in width. The color of the ink and of the paper used should, of course, harmonize, and it is desirable that the ink used for the letterhead be the same as that of the typewriter ribbon. A com bination of white bond paper and black ink is always good. Two-color letterheads are not objectionable when the colors are complementary, provided the de sign lends itself to this arrangement. A tinted "shadow" illustration—the trade-mark, or a picture of the building, for instance—over which the letter head proper is printed, is sometimes effective. The usage of the highest class of business houses, however, favors severe simplicity.
6. Heading and modern tendency to omit all except necessary punctuation in the head ing and the address of the letter seems commendable, altho, as yet, comparatively few companies make it a practice to do so. As a matter of fact, punctuation is not more necessary here than it is on the envelop, and it has come to be bad form to use full punctuation in addressing the envelop. It seems probable that the omission of all but necessary punctuation in the head ing and the address of a business letter will sooner or later become universal practice. Today, either full or "necessary" punctuation is correct. By necessary punctuation is meant the use of periods in all ab breviations and the use of commas when necessary within the line, not at the end of the line. The fol lowing example will illustrate this point: Full punctuation, however, is safer until the time when the above form shall become more universal. An ex ample of full punctuation is this: It is an almost universal practice to omit the period after the date in the heading.