Long before corporate identities and brand assets, there were Billheads: Ornately illustrated printed ephemera, bearing a Company's name, it’s claim or offer, and sometimes a pictorial representation of it’s factory.
Often lavishly executed by today’s standards, the Carhartt example above is no exception, featuring nothing less than letterpress print, gold leaf, textured and sculpted emboss, and a bespoke watermark.
Astonishingly, not only were these communications not B2C, they weren’t even selling anything. That deed had already been done, instead they were in receipt of a sale, or in the case of the aforementioned, chasing payment for one.
So why go to such expense for something as perfunctory as a bill? One theory is that it was a form of “flexing”: If you made a good quality product back then, finding buyers for it was not a problem. However it seems collecting payment for it could be. Consequently there may have been an element of, “If we are prepared to spend this much on our invoices, you should see how much we are prepared to spend on our debt collectors!”
Another, more plausible factor, is likely to be there were simply fewer channels in existence. In the late 1800s a firm’s comms budget would typically be spent on equipping sales reps with catalogs, buying press ads, and printing stationery. That’s it.
Compared to the plethora of digital channels at a brand’s disposal today, we can see why these printed Billheads appear rather extravagant.
So bearing in mind that graphic design did not yet exist as a profession, who created them? The answer is they were invariably produced by “Lithographers” - highly skilled engravers, referencing the back pages of a Foundry’s specimen book for inspiration and styles.
Type Specimens are something I find equally fascinating, and a potential subject for another post in future - watch this space.
Now for the plug: If you read this far, on 20th May (501 day), Warp-Face will be releasing a limited run of 15 numbered prints, based on an 1800s Levi Strauss billhead, printed on hand made denim paper made exclusively from old Levi’s 501s.
