Off-white letterhead with black lettering. On the top, a line of flowers goes across the letterhead and in the middle of that line of flowers leads to a table of food with a circle. In that circle, another table appears with a vase with Chinese letters and to the right of it features “The Mandarin” in red lettering. Underneath the top line of flowers appears the address: “Ghirardelli Square, 900 North Point, San Francisco, California 94109, Telephone 673-8812.” At the bottom of the letterhead, another line of flowers goes across.
A letterhead is the heading at the top of a piece of stationary, usually signaling the name and contact information of the company. An envelope is the packaging stationery that encloses the letterhead. The letterhead was first known as “letter paper” in the late 19th century. In the beginning of the 20th century, letterheads were customized to fit typewriters. By the 1940s, many companies began to place their logos on letterhead.
The Smithsonian holds several letterheads and envelopes from different locations of Mrs. Cecilia Chiang’s restaurant, The Mandarin. The letters and envelope signal a formal business culture and the reliance of correspondence through the post office. These letterhead and envelopes certainly take us back to a time before computers and the internet.
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