Don’t leave home without your… calling cards. I’m not entirely sure of the exact difference between calling cards and business cards (which I do sometimes forget to take when I leave home), but the former are apparently making a comeback.
In the 1800s, there was a certain logic – and a cool distance – to the formal calling card. Those who were part of, or sought a place among, the social élite would deliver a card with their name engraved on it to someone’s home to request a visit. But now that you can IM, e-mail or text pretty much anyone immediately, the Victorian practice seems laughably outmoded, right? Not so, according to a growing number of enthusiasts reviving the old-fashioned social-networking tool. “Is it technology fatigue? A colorful way of branding yourself? We’re not sure,” says Peter Hopkins of Crane & Co., where sales of the cards have doubled in the past two years. “But the demand is clear. They are our fastest-growing item.”
I had these for a while, in the mid 90s. Mostly, before I had business cards, and wanted a personality that was separate from my work one. Among other things, they are excellent for, essentially, what the archaic use was; leave them tucked in someone’s door when you come to visit and find them not home.
Now I’ve given up and just have admitted I am closely tied to my job. At least I made those cards, so they are plenty cool anyway :)
Side issue I’ve encountered dealing with these professionally (Sprint offered cards with your new mobile number and name, to give to your friends): “Calling card” came to mean “phone card” for a while. Not sure if that is true still, but it would be among certain populations who rely on them still.
I guess calling cards would make a great informal or personal substitute for a business card. I always viewed calling cards as the 19th century predecessor of business cards.
Plus people didn’t have phone or fax numbers, or email addresses back then, so there wouldn’t have been too much info to place on a calling card anyway :)