Got Unwanted Business Cards?

My name is Brian and I collect business cards. I am a member of the International Business Card Collectors (a/k/a IBCC), membership #371. I first became interested in collecting business cards in the mid-1990's when I found an old business card in the pages of an old book I bought at an antique store (Cheap Charlie's) in Orlando, Florida. Its the card displayed below, for Dr. George Czumpft and Dr. Ernest Engel, Optical Specialists in Jersey City, New Jersey. I have a few other old business cards (click here to see), but I mostly collect brand new (and late twentieth century) cards.

Business cards are the ideal collectible: small and easy to store, unique and rare when old (because very few people collect them compared to, for example, baseball cards)...and most importantly: they are ubiquitous and free! - as all advertising is. Go into virtually any building and you will find them at the counter/reception/lobby. Most professionals have business cards. Just ask and they will gladly give you one...that's what they are for...to give away.

My interest in business cards stems from my interest in history, especially family history (i.e. genealogy.) Business cards can provide insight into the history of small and big business, entrepreneurship among immigrant groups, urbanization, as well as the histories of specific families and career histories of individuals, and much more. I would most like to find a business card for my grandparent's, great-grandparent's or great-great-grandparent's businesses, but that will probably not happen. Instead, I collect business cards for just about any other person and/or business that I can. My thinking is that one day I will have a collection of business cards large enough to contribute to an institution that is interested in archiving them, the patrons of which institution would be able to utilize the collection in their historical and genealogical research. If no such institution wants them, perhaps my collection could be the kernel of a future larger collection that draws upon the collections of today's business card collectors. Pipe dream? Maybe. But I think it is at least worth the small effort it takes to collect these business cards.

My collecting interests are fairly broad. I will pick up ANY card that I see (even those little business card-shaped slips of paper on the tops of gas pumps advertising their 'quick pay' cards) and I will accept ANY business card that is sent to me. I prefer cards that include a person's name and a company name, but cards with only a company name are fine, too. Below are some more specific categories that I actively collect:

• "Salmons" name

  - any card with my surname, Salmons, or the surnames Salmon, Sammons, Samons or Samon on it.

• Simple and elegant

  - black-and-white cards with no graphics and just the basic information, like name, occupation, address and phone number (see link for examples)

• Musicians

  - cards for musicians, bands, groups, orchestra's, etc...especially acoustic guitar players; bluegrass, folk, blues and jazz musicians; and experimental musicians, "noisicians" and phonographers

• Churches, synagogues, temples, monasteries, etc.

• Newspaper, magazine and journal publishers

• Death-care industry: funeral homes, cemeteries, cemetery suppliers, monument companies, etc.

• City/Urban/Regional Planning & Architecture: private and public sector; planners and any employee of a planning firm or department

• Realtors and real estate agents

• Libraries, museums, historical societies, landmarks/parks

• Genealogy: professional and family genealogists, genealogical societies and clubs, genealogical publishers, etc.

• Historians/Social scientists: anthropologists, sociologists, archaeologists, political scientists, law professors, geographers, etc.

• Government officials/offices: Mayor, City Commissioner, police, City Clerk, Health Department, Records Department, etc.

• Social clubs/lodges: Elks, Masons, Order of the Eastern Star, B'nai Brith, Lion's Club, etc.

• Universities, colleges, primary schools, etc.

• Legal industry: lawyers, law firms, paralegals, legal secretaries, legal librarians, law schools, law journals, etc.

• Dutch-related

  - this includes cards from the Netherlands and Flemish-speaking Belgium, as well as Afrikaaner cards from South Africa, cards from Suriname and the Netherlands Antilles, and cards of Dutch expatriates in other countries (e.g. a Dutch artist or business person living and working in the United States; Netherlands embassies and officials...)

• Specific towns, cities and countries

  - old or new cards from the following places:

  • Kokomo, Greentown, Ervin Township and Russiaville, Indiana, USA (and all Howard County, Indiana towns)
  • Madison and Saluda, Indiana, USA (and all Jefferson County, Indiana towns)
  • Corydon, Indiana, USA (and all Harrison County, Indiana towns)
  • Milton, Kentucky, USA (and all Trimble County, Kentucky towns)
  • Louisville, Kentucky, USA
  • Taylorsville, Kentucky, USA
  • Hartford, East Hartford, West Hartford, Granby and East Granby, Connecticut, USA
  • Byromville, Lilly, Pinehurst and Vienna, Georgia, USA (and all Dooly County, Georgia towns)
  • Bonaire, Georgia, USA
  • Pickerington and Rushcreek, Ohio, USA
  • Maitland and Winter Park, Florida, USA (and all Orange or Seminole County, Florida towns)
  • Brandon, Limona, Mango and Seffner, Florida, USA
  • Salmons, Kentucky; any other town with "Salmon" in it (in the U.S. this includes: Salmon Falls and Salmon Creek, California; Salmon Brook, Connecticut; Salmon, Idaho; Salmon Falls, Maine; Salmon Trout, Michigan; Salmon Prairie, Montana; Salmon and Salmon Colonia, Texas; and Salmon Creek, Washington.
  • Utrecht, Zeist, Grou, Leeuwarden, Sneek, Workum and Stavoren, the Netherlands
  • Krakow and Zakopane, Poland
  • Lucky Hill, Oracabessa and Gayle, Jamaica (and all other St. Mary Parish, Jamaica towns)
  • Woodfield, Jamaica (and all other St. Ann Parish, Jamaica towns)
  • Greenland, Iceland, Shetland Islands (Scotland), Trinidad and Tobago, Turkey, Tasmania (Australia), New Zealand, Madagascar, Tanzania, Zanzibar and Kenya - any cards from these places

Once again, these are just my "favorites" to collect. I will accept ANY kind of card, from ANY country in the world, in ANY condition: stapled, folded, stained, smudged, ripped, wet, thumb-tacked, scotch-taped, written on front or back, impolite language on it...you name it, I want it! If you have any cards to give me, please let me know. Please email me.

As of... August 2008
...I have approximately 10,000 business cards.

LINKS: Click here for other business card collector's websites...

ARTICLES: Click here for abstracts of newspaper articles dealing with business card collecting

Biography

I am 32 years old, born in Indiana, raised in Central Florida. I am married with one on the way. I have a Bachelors degree in Anthropology from the University of South Florida (Tampa) and I currently work in the legal field. I am working towards a Masters degree in Community Development. In the meantime, I have my wife and my hobbies to keep me busy: business card collecting, reading, playing guitar and researching my family's history.

� 2008 B. Salmons
This page is copyrighted by
B. Salmons.

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