A History of Business Cards
These days we take for granted that business cards are cheap to produce and every second person has one. But before the days of widespread printing business cards were exceptionally expensive. They were reserved for the elite and upper middle classes only.
As far as I can tell they originally came from the French court etiquette of the 19th Century. These visiting cards then made their way to America, Europe, and Australia. Some contained engraved coat of arms, hand-sketched flowers, and even lithographed details. I don’t think they ever got 1,000 business cards for $55.00!
The early business cards were adapted to trading cards when lithography became less expensive. These days we see trading cards all the time for sports teams, with really cheap chewing gum enclosed.
Rob Jennings
