A business card is just like an elegant suits: it will never be outdated even if there are many other ways of promoting you or your business. A business card shows more than your name and address; it shows that you care about your image and your business. Nowadays, the trend in business card is to make them either in classic or extremely atypical, with strange shapes, materials or writings, for creating a catchy look.
The history of business cards started as early as 15th century in China and 17th century in Europe where the French monarchs would use them as a piece of paper that contained the information of the guest who was visiting and they were called visiting cards, not called business cards. They were shaped and sized in a similar way to a playing card and became a staple of the elite by the middle of the century. .
By the reign of the French King Louis XIV (r. 1643 to 1715), however, visiting cards had become a staple of upper echelon etiquette with a sophisticated system of rules attached to their use. Exchanging of contact information became essential and the visiting card and trade card were merged and handed out on less formal occasions. In the United States, however, business card use became widespread in the 1890s (the so-called age of the Captains of Industry or “robber barons”) and the cards achieved their current level of ubiquity by the early 20th century. Only the very highest social circles continue to draw a distinction between a visiting card and a business card although the former are still in limited use. Below you can see 40 examples of vintage business cards which I’m sure you will like.
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