The business cards of today are an evolution from the visiting cards or calling cards of yester years. Visiting cards were very popular in China in the fifteenth century. Later, they were found in Europe in the seventeenth century. Only the royalty and aristocrats, to announce their visit, used these cards. They handed these cards to the servants of the houses, which they visit. The servants would then hand over this card to their masters, who would decide upon how to welcome the visitor.
Business cards first came into existence in the 17th century in London. Back then, there was no proper street numbering systems and people found it difficult to trace their way to their favorite stores. So, traders used business cards to promote their businesses and to provide maps or route-ways for customers to find their shops.
Now days, cards have evolved from black and white and color, to images imprinting and engrossing. A recent invention is the CD business card. It can store up to 100 MB of data. They have the same dimensions as the normal business cards and fit in all normal computers CD drives. They can hold a lot of audio and video data of the business. However, they are not used commonly.
