Billheads
The Billhead evolved from what was known as a "Trade Card," and in the
twentieth Century, became known as letterhead. It was created by printing
a heading at the top of a sheet of paper, usually from an engraved copper
plate. The lower part of the sheet was used for writing a list, a note, or
a bill. The standard billhead measured seven to eight inches wide, and
four inches or more in length, depending on the need for space for writing
the bill. The printed heading usually included an illustration, and
sometimes a street address or location of the business. They also included
space to write the date and town where the business transaction took
place. They were printed on durable rag paper up until the 1860's and
1870's, after which they were printed on thinner woodpulp paper. In
general, billheads of this style were in use and remained relatively the
same for approximately a 150 year time frame, over three centuries.
As historical artifacts, billheads are useful for providing information
about tradesmen's products and prices. They help document the types of
goods and services that consumers were purchasing.
The American Antiquarian Society has a collection of over 500 billheads
representative of what was printed between the 1780's and 1900. They are
housed in two boxes. The first box is devoted entirely to billheads from
Boston merchants. The other box includes billheads from traders and hotels
located in several states, including Massachusetts. They are organized
alphabetically by city and state.
-Terri Tremblay, Assistant Curator of Graphic Arts
Source: Rickards, Maurice, The Encyclopedia of Ephemera. New
York: Routledge, 2000.
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Billhead of James McGlinchy, importer and dealer of foreign and domestic
liquors
Billhead for the Boston Paper Staining Manufactory, ca. 1806
* Billhead
inventory
For current information on the cataloging status of this and
other AAS collections, choose "Collection Access" below.
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