Leading Edge Letterhead

Companies use official letterhead to communicate with outside parties, both to establish the authenticity and authority of their correspondence and to provide a subtle form of self−promotion. Letterhead serves as a blank template onto which an employee can compose a letter for a customer, business partner, or other recipient. Featured here is an official Leading Edge Products letterhead. This letterhead came from a collection of documents and hardware belonging to a user who had purchased into the Model D environment in the early 1980s. Based on the materials with which it was acquired, it can reasonably be surmised that this was official Leading Edge letterhead in use during that period.

How the Letterhead Was Restored:
The Leading Edge Archival Project wanted to make this letterhead available for anyone interested in using or studying it. The original was received in used condition, with a letter concerning a printer driver printed on it. We utilized various tools to remove the correspondence and normalize the color of the aged paper while preserving the original letterhead design. The result provides an opportunity to view a museum−quality piece in its original form, as well as a reconstructed blank letterhead that would have been ready for official correspondence. Feel free to download and print a copy of the letterhead for your own personal, non−official use.

The Styling of the Header:
The header portion of the letterhead features the classic triple−triangle Leading Edge logo centered near the top of the page. Directly below the logo is "LEADING EDGE" in all caps, using a font that closely matches those found on the early fabric−bound software packs. Directly below the company name is the slogan "An American Idea." This slogan appears to have been used only briefly and is not one commonly associated with Leading Edge. In fact, this is the first instance we have seen of the slogan appearing on a Leading Edge product or promotional material. Below the slogan is the large blank body area of the page, where a typist would have composed the letter.

The Styling of the Footer:
At the bottom of the letterhead is the blank document's pre−printed footer. Spanning the width of the page is "LEADING EDGE HARDWARE PRODUCTS, INC." in all caps, using a font that matches the "LEADING EDGE" text at the top, but at a considerably larger size. The company name is framed above and below by horizontal lines that span its length. This company name presents another notable anomaly. Throughout our research, Leading Edge's official corporate name is typically presented as "Leading Edge Products," but on this letterhead, the word "Hardware" is included. This makes the "Leading Edge Hardware Products, Inc." designation another notable outlier in the company's historical documentation. Below the large−font company name, the corporate name is repeated in smaller type along with the address and telephone number in use at the time.

Please see below for a downloadable high‐quality scan PDF of a blank letterhead.