A Short History of the Business Card

"(I refuse you my card) because you'll stick it up over your chimney-piece, and delude your visitors into the false belief that a gentleman has been to see you, sir."

-Mr. Gunter insulting Mr. Noddy in The Pickwick Papers, by Charles Dickens

 

The custom of "calling" upon people in polite society was a standard formality in Victorian England. The ladies or gentlemen's calling card was a key part of the ritual. The modern business card has evolved without the customs of the nineteenth century.

In the movies we see the gentleman calling upon the home of a member of "polite society." The butler takes the caller's card upon a sliver tray to the master of the home and the visitor waits in the parlor. As usual, the romantic Hollywood version varies somewhat from norm.

Gentlemen would usually meet each other at their clubs or businesses. It was the duty of the ladies to make the "morning calls" which usually occurred in early afternoon. The lady would arrive with her and her husband's cards for the mistress and a second card of her husband's for the master of the home. Older children's names would be written on the bottom or back of the card.

These cards were saved on a special table in the front hall or mantelpiece. The "better" cards were kept in prominent positions so other visitors could see the "class" of visitors coming to a home. Under no proper social circumstances would a single lady leave a gentleman her card.

Often the cards were delivered by a servant announcing the presence of a person to the area. Upon leaving town, the letters "PPC" were written on the card. The letters stood for the French phase "pour prendre congé" or "I am leaving." Delivered cards were often presented in envelopes. There was no standard size of calling card, and a series of envelopes to fit each size were made. Baronial envelopes were sized to the cards sent by the barons.

Most paper was handmade. In order to archive the desired stiffness and thickness, papers were glued together in plys. Combinations of various types of paper allowed a better grade to be on top for printing.

A "China card" was a popular enameled card. A special clay mixed with water and glue was brushed on to the surface of the paper and left to dry. Later, the sheets were pressed and glued together with the enamel side out. Pigments could be mixed into the clay to make colored stocks.

Most cards were printed by letterpress, but intaglio engraving and lithography were used by persons of special station or those so aspiring. Many times, a name with perhaps a general address was all that appeared on the card. Lithography allowed for illustrations.

Color illustrations of seasonal themes were done by chromolithography. Louis Prang, an American lithographer, used multiple lithographic stones printed in register to archive cards that were works of art. His picture calling cards for the Winter season were the first Christmas cards.

Engraved cards were often slip-sheeted with blank sheets or tissue. The purpose was to keep wet ink from sticking to the card above. Printers should have removed the tissue before delivering the cards to customers. Often, on rush orders, the cards went out of the shop with the tissue interleaf. Unknowing customers presented their cards, tissue included. This faux pas became the norm and customers began to expect and even request the tissue.

Some of the information on the social aspects mentioned above of cards came from "What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew" by Daniel Pool © 1993, Touchstone