Presidential Business Cards
As any professional business person knows, business cards are a great way to have a potential client remember you. But does the President of the USA need people to remember him?
Regardless, the President (past and current) always have business cards. During many presidencies you can even write a letter to the president and he will mail you a business card. Well, someone on his staff will mail you a business card.
These business cards are usually embossed with a gold presidential seal right in the middle. Many times they have a fake signature right over the middle of the card (lithograph) and the address of the White House in the top right corner.
Oh, and you can even buy them on eBay! Here is a signed business card from Gerald Ford. If you are named “Jim” this can be even more special:
Gerald Ford signed business card
George Bush Sr. business card
So if you are interested in getting a business card from the president, send him a letter and let me know how it goes!
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International Business Card Collectors
For business card geeks, like myself, there isn’t really anything greater than the club (society?). What they do is, well, collect business cards. If you never have, visit their site. Here is some navagational help:
Business Card Museum (a lot of World Trade Center business cards)
I know, their site does need some updating, but they don’t appear to be a “for-profit” type of club so funds are probably pretty low. Looking at their member list they don’t seem to be actively recruiting members either.
Check it out, it’s a good resource.
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The History of Business Cards
According to Wikipedia’s entry on Business Cards, business cards started many hundreds of years ago. However, according to history, they weren’t actually business cards, they were calling, or visiting cards.
We first have record of these visiting cards appearing in Chine in the 15th century. They were used by the servants of the wealthy to announce the arrival of the aristocratic and royal elite. Only the best of high society used visiting cards. And of course, they were all hand written, not printed like we do today.
These visiting cards were laced with fine linen and bore the coat of arms of the family arriving.
Throughout the centuries visiting cards evolved to become Trade Cards in the 17th century in London. Merchants used these new cards to give directions or maps to their place of business. They also used them to pass messages along to customers. These cards were vital during this time because there was no formal set of street naming or business numbering like we have today. Essentially these merchants didn’t have an address so a map was crucial!
After that time business cards became what we know them as today. We still use them many times for the same purposes, to alert someone of our arrival, to advertise our business, and to pass information between two people.
So if someone hands you a business card, don’t just throw it away, remember from where these little pieces of paper have come, and smile that you know the history of business cards!