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.