Common Abbreviations.
Abbreviations proper to social and formal letter-writing are few in number. Honorary titles, such as Dr., Prof., Hon., Rev., Messrs., Esq., Capt., etc., are usually abbreviated as above, though very good authorities advocate, and with much reason, the use of the full word “Reverend,” as also the titles “Honorable” and “Professor.” The scholastic titles are also abbreviated by the proper initials, as A. M., M. D., LL.D., following the name. The names of months, of states, the words “County” and “Post Office,” when used on the superscription are also abbreviated.
The use of A. M., M., P. M., to mark the divisions of the day, technical abbreviations, and the usual e. g., i. e., viz., etc., are too familiar to the users to need mention. Further than the above, brevity is not always the soul of wit.
The letter itself, as a whole, is now to be considered, and to facilitate its writing there should be some one corner in every home devoted to this purpose. The incentive to letter-writing is always damped, the happy thought we would send our friend takes flight, if we must find the pens upstairs, the paper down, the ink bottle in the pantry, empty or not, as the case may be, and our patience wherever it may be after the search is ended.
A SCRAP OF A LETTER.
Letters would be more frequently written, more punctually answered, and half the unreasonable dread of writing done away with, were this matter attended to properly. Let the writing desk stand in some well-lighted corner of sitting, dining, or “mother’s” room, and let it be stored with all articles necessary to the exigencies of correspondence. Should the desk prove beyond the depth of the family purse, then, let its substitute be found in a firm, good-sized table or stand, with a drawer where necessary supplies may be kept. Two or more sizes of note paper, unruled, with envelopes to match, for the elders of the household; writing tablets and commercial note, together with plain envelopes, for the school-children and everyday uses; a good dictionary, a tray with pen rack and inkstand thereon, and a goodly supply of pens, will complete a corner that will do more toward the family education in good breeding and culture than any other expenditure that can be made, and will render letter-writing the pleasure it should be, instead of the dread it too often is.
If one possesses a permanent address, street, number and city may, with great propriety, be engraved on the paper at the top of the sheet. If this is not done the address should always be written clearly on all letters. It is too much to expect one’s friends to remember the private addresses of all their correspondents, and time is too precious to be spent searching out some missing letter in quest of street or number, in default of which more than one letter has gone unanswered.
The date of a letter, month, day, year and city is first in place. This should be written on one line, beginning, according to length, more or less near the center of the sheet and ending at the right-hand margin. In business letters, unless the printed letter head fixes the place, this line should not be more than one-quarter down the page; while in social or formal letters it should be one-third the distance down. If it should be desirable to give the county also, the date may be allowed to occupy two or more lines, as follows:
Mendota, La Salle Co., Ill., May 29, 189—.
In the same manner a city number and address may be given:
309 Post Street, Ottawa, Ill., January 30, 189—.
In writing from hotels, the following form should be adopted:
The Arlington, Binghamton, N. Y., October 3, 189—.
Some, in polite letter-writing, prefer to give the address at the conclusion rather than the beginning of the letter. Under these circumstances the prescribed form would be:
Truly your friend, Mary N. Prescott.
Franklin Grove, Lee Co., Ill., January 14, 189—.
There are several ways of writing the figures that compose the date of a letter. Many business men and others use this form, 1—2—189—. or, 1/2/9—, for January 2, 189—. Others still would write as follows: Jan. 2nd, 1896. Taste and habit will decide the matter for each. To give the name instead of the number of the month is, perhaps, more elegant.
The address, supposing it to be a business letter would come next in order, beginning at the left-hand margin, and our letter would stand thus:
Tipton, Iowa, April 1, 189—.
Mr. William H. Hill,
307 Wall Street, New York.
The salutation is a matter wherein there is great latitude of usage. In conformity with custom, some title is to be used in addressing correspondents, and this title differs greatly in accordance with the degree of acquaintance, or friendship, with the party addressed. It should always begin at the left of the page. In the business letter just above, the form might be as follows:
Tipton, Iowa, April 1, 189-.
Mr. William H. Hill,
307 Wall Street, New York'Dear Sir: (or, Sir:)
Or, if there should be a firm name, the address would be as follows:
Messrs. Williams & Hill, 307 Wall Street, New York.
Dear Sirs: (or, Sirs:) (or, Gentlemen:)
Again, if wished, the salutation might be omitted and the address made to serve as title. Another form is this:
Mr. William H. Hill, 307 Wall Street, New York. Mr. Hill:
The following form, though causing an unpleasant repetition of the name, is often adopted in business letters to unmarried ladies, probably to escape the problem that the choice of Miss or Madam offers to so many:
305 Beacon Street, Boston, Mass., February 10, 189—.
Miss Mary Wright, Cherry Valley, Ill. Miss Wright:
Or, omitting the name, the simple address may be used. However, there need not be the slightest difficulty in addressing an unmarried lady, even should she be in her teens, as “Madam,” or “Dear Madam,” it being a general term as applicable to women without regard to age or condition, as “Sir” is to their brethren. This will be easily seen when it is recollected that it is a derivation from ma dame, my lady, and since our language is deficient in any equivalent term to the pretty French Mademoiselle, or the German, Fraülein, and, as “Dear Miss” is obsolete, we must be content to utilize “Madam” on all necessary occasions. There is another form much used where the address is omitted:
305 Michigan Avenue, Chicago, July 10, 189—.
Miss Halsted. Dear Madam:
Or, if on friendly footing, simply: Dear Miss Halstead:
If two young ladies are to be addressed, the term “Misses” should be used, as:
Havana, Ill., February 20, 189—.
Misses Taylor & Watson, Stenographers,
159 Church Street, Rockford, Ill. Mesdames:
The “Mesdames” may be omitted and the address used alone, but its addition indicates more polish. The translation is “My Ladies.” Some substitute for it, simply “Ladies,” which is quite proper.
The prefix “Dear” may be omitted wherever desirable, but never write “My dear Miss Halstead,” “My dear Madam,“ or ”My dear Sir,” unless intimately acquainted.
In writing a social letter the address is omitted or added at close of the letter. A gentleman in private or professional life would be addressed as:
Frederic Guy, Esq. Dear Sir: (or, Sir:)
Or,
Hon. Frederic Guy. Dear Sir: (or, Sir:)
Respectfully yours, John Graceland.
The use of titles will be explained farther on, but here it may be said that two titles are very seldom given to the same individual at once. For instance, never write Mr. Fred. Guy, Esq., nor Hon. Mr. Fred. Guy. There are some exceptions to this rule, as where the Rev. Mr. Churchill and the Hon. Mr. Brice are addressed under circumstances where their Christian name is unknown, and where a married lady makes use of her husband’s title, as: Mrs. Capt. Jones; Mrs. Judge Snyder, and where the Rev. Prof. Dr. Kemp shows by his titles the weight of his learning. Never deny an individual the titles that are rightfully his. They show that he has fought and conquered men, or books, to win them, and they are the well-earned meed of his endeavor. But never, if you have titles, be guilty of bestowing them on yourself; leave that for others.
A gentleman writing to a married lady would address her in friendly correspondence as, “Dear Mrs. French,” or, “My dear Mrs. French.” To an unmarried lady, “Dear Miss French,” or “My dear Miss French.” A lady addresses a gentleman in the same fashion, as “Dear Mr. Courtney,” or “My dear Mr. Courtney,” or “Dear Dr. Courtney.”