The Mandarin business card
date: label: date made
content: 1980s?
name: label: maker
content: unknown
notes: label: Description
content: Off-white and black flip card, though this one’s fold has never been creased. On the cover features a symbol of a woman in Chinese dress wear and the address of the Beverly Hills Mandarin. The inside of the card reads a few sentences about the Mandarin restaurant and on the bottom lists the days and times of open hours. The back of the card features a map of Beverly Hills and a green dot of where the restaurant resides.
label: Description
content: Business cards are cards bearing information of a company or an individual, typically of the name and contact information such as telephone and address. Historians agree that origins of the business card can be traced back to 15th century China. Known as “visiting cards” then, they served as a card to announce one's intention of meeting another. Visiting cards were an essential self-promotion tool of the upper classes, a personal advertisement and an introduction. In 17th century Europe, merchant's stores used “trade cards” for effective advertising. By the 19th century, as a result of the rise of the printing press, many merchants advertised their businesses by printing their cards in newspapers. Today, many businesses and individuals use business cards as a way to promote their industry or themselves as a point of reference.
label: Description
content: The Smithsonian collection features several business cards from The Mandarin at different restaurant locations. While most Chinese restaurants do not typically carry business cards – some carry ephemera such as matchbooks or keychains and even take-out menus, Chiang passed out business cards that featured her restaurant logo, contact information, business hours, and her signature dishes. In this way, Chiang set herself apart from other Chinese restaurants by self-promotion through business cards.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
setName: label: See more items in
content: Work and Industry: Asian Pacific American Business
label: See more items in
content: Food
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift from Cecilia Chang
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2013.0127.04
label: accession number
content: 2013.0127
label: catalog number
content: 2013.0127.04
objectType: label: Object Name
content: card
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 in x 2 in; 17.78 cm x 5.08 cm