History of Business Cards

Business cards as we know them today evolved from no less than three different predecessors:

• Bearer Cards
• Calling Cards (or "Visiting Cards")
• Trade Cards

Each has its own place in history, each served a particular purpose, and each evolved independently. For several centuries these cards not only constituted some of the earliest forms of successful advertising, but were an indispensable part of society. Indeed, one's card carried great social and business significance. Despite the advances of technology, to a great extent this is still true today.

Bearer Cards

The Bearer Card made its first appearance sometime in the late 16th century in either England or France (depending on whose version of history you believe). Its main purpose was to provide a formal means of communicating obligation or intent. These were often simple playing cards, upon which a gentleman wrote his signature. Such a card could be used to convey a debt, a promissory note or other message, and carried the force of law. There were reportedly special cards made for the upper classes upon which were engraved a likeness of the bearer, but none are known to survive today as examples.

Proferring one's card ("bilete") at introductions became a fashionable trend in 17th Century France when Louis XIV, the King of France, began accepting such cards from foreign visitors. Presenting one's "Visite Bilete" soon became a polite and respectful means of requesting an audience -- and this applied to ladies as well as gentlemen. The more elegant and eye-catching a card, the better it was received. This fashion soon evolved into formal French court etiquette. Thus the calling card became a part of society and a whole new industry was born.