Jasper County Democrat, Volume 18, Number 58, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 20 October 1915 — "Yours Truly” Is Going Out. [ARTICLE]

"Yours Truly” Is Going Out.

In those good old days when the shopkeeper had to be polite or have his head chopped off by a finicky duke, the use of terms of politeness, so called, were a necessity. They dubbed the dukes and other spriggs of nobility “most honored sir” or ‘‘most gracious lady,” although the recipients were, as a rule, anything but honorable or gracious, aad then the first thing they knew they were dubbing one another “dear sir” and “dear madame” and ending their scrawls wijh “yours truly” and similar phrases. This sort of thing in time became an institution and it has lasted up to the present day. It is only very recently that the foundation began to crumble, and some of the largest firms in the country suddenly discovered that “yours truly” and dear sir” did not mean anything and took a lot of good time that a stenographer could use to better ad-

vantage. Therefore they have discontinued the habit. Among the great firms that adopted this reform is the R. H. Macy Company, New York’s big department store. For fear that some of tie correspondents may not tin derstand this departure at first, they have printed on the bottom of their letters the following: “We have never heard a good reason for the use of Dear Madame,’ ‘Dear Sir,' Yours Truly’ and other similar phrases in business correspondence. For the sake of accuracy, brevity and economy we have discontinued their use.”—Detroit News.