Early peoples, calling upon one another, always felt that it was polite to announce their arrival beforehand. They felt that the owners ought to be warned of their approach.

We can see the origin of this, of course. Earlier in the stage of social development, when one tribe approached another it would not know at first whether the approach were hostile or friendly. But if that tribe announced its approach, it must naturally be friendly. Otherwise it would approach silently, secretly, to steal upon them unawares. Through obvious association, it became a form of early politeness to make known one’s approach.

Thus in Australia, before coming within a mile of the fires of the natives of another village, it is customary to announce the approach by loud “cooeys.” In other sections of Australia it is the custom, when one tribe approaches another in peace, to carry burning sticks.

A Blackfellow would not think of breaking in suddenly upon the privacy of the horde he is about to visit. He warns them of his arrival by building a fire a little distance off. Several peoples, in widely separated parts of the world, use this method of making known their approach.

Among the ancient Israelites it was considered good form, when visiting friends or strangers, to send a servant ahead to announce their coming. This corresponds to our custom of sending a card or note several days in advance when we are planning to visit someone and we wish him or her to be at home.

It was not until the late 17th and early 18th centuries that the visiting card, as we know it, came into general use. Its development appears to be most marked in France, as are, indeed, most social developments. During the 18th century in France we find a whole generation of artists and designers devoting themselves entirely to the creating of visiting cards for the fashionable world.

Many of the elaborate visiting cards of this period are still in existence. We have seen one, for instance, decorated with a wreath of roses bordered with olives and bearing the name “Marquis de Llano.” The decorations were made by the artist Raphael Mengs.

Another card bears the picture of a spaniel holding a miniature card in his mouth on which appears the name “Adam Bartsch” (author of the “Peintre Graveur,” a work published at Venice in twenty-one volumes.) Another one of his cards reveals a savage dog tearing a roll of paper which bears the date 1795. Beneath it is the legend: “Adam Bartsch has the pleasure of presenting his compliments and good wishes for the New Year.”

Ornamented cards such as these were used for various purposes. They were sent with gifts. They were left at homes to show that the owners had been there. Invitations were written on them.

It appears that men had their cards ornamented to harmonize with their professions. Thus the architect Blondel had his name inscribed above the cornice of a ruined monument; an artist had a palette on his card; the landscape gardener, a bit of pretty landscape.

After a period of great ostentation in cards, the pendulum seems to have swung to the other extreme. During the late 18th and 19th centuries, ordinary playing cards were used and the names were written in pen or pencil on the back. Several such cards, of about the period of 1850, were found in a house in Dean Street, Soho, under repair. One of them bears the name of Isaac Newton.

As they proved useful and convenient in the matter of visiting cards, the playing cards were next used for invitations. Invitations to dinners and parties were scribbled on their backs. But toward the close of the 19th century such social carelessness was frowned upon, and the simple pasteboard card which we know came into favour.

Our custom of using white cards bordered with black for mourning purposes possibly originated with the Chinese. They have used cards of various kinds from a very early period. And they have been among the first to use a different colour to indicate mourning. The Chinese visiting card is a strip of vermilion paper printed in black. For mourning purposes the paper is white printed in dark blue.

The formula on the Chinese visiting card is as ornate as its appearance. The card bears not only the name of the visitor, but an address of respect to the host. One card, for example, bears this inscription: The tender and sincere friend of your Lordship, and the perpetual disciple of your doctrine, presents himself in this quality to pay his duty and make his reverence even to the earth.

The correct card of today is engraved with the name only, or with the name and address. To be absolutely correct it is pure white engraved in black. Cards for mourning are white edged with a narrow border of black.

Before leaving on a long trip to some distant place, it is customary to call upon one’s friends, not for the purpose of making a visit, but merely to leave one’s visiting card on which one has written in one corner the letters P.P.C. The cards may be mailed if preferred.

This is a rather old French custom. The letters P.P.C. mean Pour prendre conge (To take leave). The card is purely a courtesy card, to inform one’s friends of one’s departure, and no acknowledgment is necessary.