Why do you put a comma after the salutation of a personal letter?

Question

I need to know exactly why you put a comma after the salutation. Not just because it's proper. I need a real answer.

Answer 1

I consulted the office letter officials (see below) and it didn't say why, it just said that you did. But if a letter is typed in the "open punctuation" style, none is put after salutation. And it said in a business letter that the salutation is followed by a colon, not a comma.

Answer 2

I dunno. Why do ducks quack instead of bark? It's the way of things I suppose.

You use a comma after the salutation in a personal letter but a semicolon in a business letter. That allows differentiation between personal and business communications though is probably a lost art today looking at many of the business letters I get today.

The best answer I could offer is that a comma typically is used where you would insert a brief pause in the spoken language. When reading a letter aloud, one does pause briefly after the salutation, so that's probably where the requirement originated.

Answer 3

The comma after the salutation is used to seperate the two thoughts: the greeting and the message in the letter.