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Revision as of 21:37, 13 February 2010
A wallet, or billfold, is a small, flat case used to carry personal items such as cash, credit cards and identification documents, such as a driver's license. Wallets are generally made of leather or fabrics, and they are usually pocket-sized and are foldable.
History
The word "wallet" has been in use since the first century A.D. to refer to a bag or a knapsack for carrying articles. The word may derive from Proto-Germanic.[1] The ancient Greek word kibisis, used to describe the sack carried by the god Hermes and the sack in which the mythical hero Perseus carried the decapitated head of the monster Medusa, has been typically translated as "wallet".[2][3] Usage of the term "wallet" in its modern meaning of "flat case for carrying paper currency" in American English dates to 1834 but this meaning was one of many in the 19th century and early 20th century.[1]
In Ancient Greece
The classicist, A.Y. Campbell, set out to answer the question, "What, in ancient literature, are the uses of a wallet?" He deduced, as a Theocritean scholar, that "the wallet was the poor man's portable larder; or, poverty apart, it was a thing that you stocked with provisions." [4] He found that sometimes a man may be eating out of it directly but the most characteristic references allude to its being "replenished as a store", not in the manner of a lunch basket but more as a survival pack.
In the Renaissance
As metals became increasingly used as currencies, wallets began taking shape to include coins, and in some cases, statements of accounts.
In recounting the life of the Elizabethan merchant, John Frampton, Lawrence C. Wroth describes the merchant as, "a young English-man of twenty-five years, decently dressed, ..., wearing a sword, and carrying fixed to his belt something he called a 'bowgett' (or budget), that is, a leathern pouch or wallet in which he carried his cash, his book of accounts, and small articles of daily necessity".[5]
In the 19th Century
In addition to money or currency, a wallet would also be used for carrying dried meat, victuals, "treasures", and "things not to be exposed". It was considered "semi-civilized" in 19th century America to carry one's wallet on one's belt. Ironically, at this time, carrying goods or a wallet in one's pocket was considered uncivilized and uncommon.[6]
In Spain, a wallet was a case for smoking paraphernalia: "Every man would carry a small sheaf of white paper in addition to a small leather wallet which would contain a flint and steel along with a small quantity of so-called yesca, being a dried vegetable fibre which a spark would instantly ignite."[7]
In Modern Times
The modern bi-fold wallet with multiple "card slots" became standardized in the early 1950s with the introduction of the first credit cards. Some innovations include the introduction of the velcro-closure wallet in the 1970s. Pocket-sized wallets remain extremely popular to this day.
Varieties
Wallets are usually designed to hold banknotes and credit cards and fit into a pocket (or handbag). Small cases for securing banknotes which do not have space for credit cards or identification cards may be classified as money clips. Wallets are designed solely for males with the female equivalent being the purse.
- Breast wallet (also called a "secretary wallet" or "passage wallet"[8]): a wallet in which the banknotes are not folded. They are intended for men's breast pocket in a jacket, or for a handbag. They are too large for storage in a pant (trouser) pocket.
- Bi-fold wallet: a type of wallet in which the banknotes are folded over once. This has become the "standard" wallet. Credit cards and identification cards may be stored horizontally or vertically.
- Tri-fold wallet: a wallet with three folds, in which credit cards are generally stored vertically.
- Front pocket wallet (or money clip): a case with no currency compartment and very few pockets for cards. Usually banknotes are folded and held to the wallet with a metal clip.
- Chain wallet a wallet secured to the pants by a chain. It was first popularized by bikers who wanted to keep from losing their wallet while riding a motorcycle. Its popularity had a resurgence in 1970s-80s Punk fashion and in the early 1990s with the grunge fashion movement as well as Heavy metal fashion.
- Wallet bands a type of wallet that uses a continuous elastic band, made of fabric or rubber, to secure cards and/or cash. Wallet bands have become increasingly more popular as a way to reduce the bulk of a traditional wallet.
Some wallets, particularly in Europe where larger coins are prevalent, contain a coin purse compartment. Some wallets have built-in clasps or bands to keep them closed. As European banknotes, such as Euros and Pounds, are typically larger than American banknotes in size, they don't fit in some smaller American wallets.
Features
A wallet generally has one or more currency pockets; in some cases, there may also be a money clip. Wallets usually have one or more pockets for storing credit cards or identification cards, which may be oriented vertically or horizontally.
Wallets may also have an identification pocket, which facilitates the display of a regularly-used piece of identification such as workplace ID or a bus pass, by housing it within a transparent "window". A wallet may also have photo pockets, which are designed to hold a collection of small personal photographs. A wallet may also have a small pouch for coins or keys.
Some wallets, called chain wallets are attached to metal chains which are then clipped onto a belt, as a way of preventing loss or theft by pickpockets. Some travellers replace wallets with money belts, which are belts with a hidden money compartment.
Wallets from designers and retailers
Most major designers offer seasonal and perennial wallet collections of black and brown leather wallets. Major retailers also sells a wide selection of men's wallets, including branded and house-name wallets.
See also
References
- ^ a b "Online Etymology Dictionary entry for "wallet"". Retrieved 2007-09-06.
- ^ "CTCWeb Glossary: K". Retrieved 2007-09-06.
- ^ "Appolodorus Library and Epitome (ed. Sir James George Frazer)". Retrieved 2007-09-06.
- ^ Campbell, A.Y., 1931; The Boy, the Grapes, and the Foxes; The Classical Quarterly, Vol. 25, No. 2 (Apr., 1931), pp. 91
- ^ Wroth, Lawrence C., 1954, An Elizabethan Merchant and Man of Letters, The Huntington Library Quarterly, Vol. 17, No. 4 (Aug., 1954), pp. 301-302
- ^ Mason, Otis T., 1838-1908, The Beginnings of the Carrying Industry, American Anthropologist, Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jan., 1889), pp. 21-46
- ^ Cushing, Caroline Elizabeth Wilde, 1802-1832, Letter from Caroline Elizabeth Wilde Cushing, 1830, in Letters, Descriptive of Public Monuments, Scenery, and Manners in France and Spain, vol. 2. Newburyport, MA: E.W. Allen & Co., 1832, pp. 169-178.
- ^ Passage wallet as different term for breast wallet