The Art & Practice of Typography / A Manual of American Printing, Including a Brief History up to the Twentieth Century, with Reproductions of the Work of Early Masters of the Craft, and a Practical Discussion and an Extensive Demonstration of the Modern Use of Type-faces and Methods of Arrangement

by Edmund G. Gress

EXAMPLE 320
An uncommon arrangement. The main type line tells the story, as the company’s title describes the business

EXAMPLE 321
Credit bill made from the preceding billhead by adding a line at the head and changing “Sold to” to “Credit”

Example [320].—This is an unusual arrangement for a billhead. As the business is stated in the firm name, there is not the usual necessity for a second display line. While this arrangement could be carried out in some other type-face, the serifless “block” letter as here used is not displeasing. The grouping of the branch houses is good, and other groups are also well placed.

Example [321].—Most business houses find need for credit bills, to be used when goods are returned or some error has been made in billing. Such forms are easily provided by using the billhead, adding the words “Credit Memorandum” at the head and changing “Sold to” to “Credit.” In order that credit bills may look unlike regular bills, they should be printed in color as is here shown.

Example [322].—All professional stationery should be refined. The sizes of paper and type should be small and the whole effect restrained and polite. Such work seldom changes in style, and consequently there is little variety. The form shown here would probably prove acceptable for many years to men of the medical and similar professions.

It may not be out of place to remind the reader that an invoice (or bill) is a list sent to a purchaser or consignee, containing the items and charges of merchandise that have been forwarded to him.

As to the statement: It is a common practice to send each customer at the first of the month a statement showing the debit balance of his account to date, whether it is due or not, enabling him to compare the statement with the ledger account. In order to call the attention of customers to the fact that payment is desired, many business houses send a statement whenever a bill is due (when goods are purchased on January 10, as an instance, at ten days, a statement is sent January 20).

There are numerous other forms used in business, such as checks, deposit slips, drafts, promissory notes, bills of lading and the like, but there is not space to show them here.