The simple answer is that a calling card is a small piece of paper that was used to identify the bearer to others during social visits. These cards were in vogue from the Regency Period (1811) to the Victorian Era (1837-1901) into the late Edwardian Period (1914) and even appeared in American etiquette books in 1937. They were precursors to the business card and were sometimes used in similar fashion. Calling cards were an important part of the upper-class in both Europe and America. Among the many rules of etiquette that these society men and women followed were the rules about who could call, or visit, others and when. The basic elements of the calling card was the bearer's name and address. There were many rules for how the name should appear and these rules can be seen on the Rules for Cards page.

An example of a typical calling card (courtesy of Morning Glory Antiques)

Calling cards were also sometimes known as carte de visite, which is French for visiting cards. These examples usually contain a photograph of the person on the card itself. In the late 1800's, these visiting cards became so popular they were collected like modern day sports cards by the middle class.