Wallet

	Email		Print
	Bookmark		Link

Wallet

A wallet, or billfold, is a small, flat case used to carry personal items such as cash

Cash

Cash refers to money in the physical form of currency, such as banknotes and coins.In bookkeeping and finance, "cash" refers to current assets comprised of currency or currency equivalents that can be accessed immediately or near-immediately ....
, credit cards and identification documents, such as a driver's license

Driver's license

A driver's license, driver license, driver licence, or driving licence is an official document which states that a person may driving a motorized vehicle, such as a motorcycle, automobile, truck, or a bus....
. Wallets are generally made of leather

Leather

Leather is a material created through the tanning of rawhides and skins of animals, primarily cattlehide. The tanning process converts the putrescible skin into a durable, long-lasting and versatile natural material for various uses....
or fabric

Textile

A textile is a flexible material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by Spinning raw wool fibres, linen, cotton, or other material on a spinning wheel to produce long strands known as yarn....
s, and they are usually pocket-sized and are foldable.

word "wallet" has been in use since the first century A.D.

Discussion

Ask a question about 'Wallet'

Start a new discussion about 'Wallet'

Answer questions from other users

Full Discussion Forum

Encyclopedia

A wallet, or billfold, is a small, flat case used to carry personal items such as cash

Cash

Driver's license

Leather

Textile

History

The word "wallet" has been in use since the first century A.D. to refer to a bag or a knapsack for carrying articles. The word may derive from Proto-Germanic

Proto-Germanic language

Proto-Germanic, or Common Germanic, as it is sometimes known, is the hypothetical common ancestor of all the Germanic languages such as modern English language, Dutch language, German language, Danish language, Norwegian language, Icelandic language, Faroese language, and Swedish language....
. The ancient Greek word kibisis, used to describe the sack carried by the god Hermes

Hermes

Hermes is the messenger of the gods in Greek mythology. An Twelve Olympians, he is also the patron of boundaries and of the travelers who cross them, of shepherds and cowherds, of thieves and road travelers, of orators and wit, of literature and poets, of athletics, of weights and measures, of invention, of general commerce, and of the cunni...
and the sack in which the mythical hero Perseus

Perseus

Perseus , the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Mycenae there, was the first of the mythic heroes of Greek mythology whose exploits in defeating various archaic monsters provided the founding myths in the cult of the Twelve Olympians....
carried the decapitated head of the monster Medusa

Medusa

In Greek mythology, Medusa was a gorgon, a chthonic female monster; gazing upon her would turn onlookers to stone. She was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who thereafter used her head as a weapon until giving it to the goddess Athena to place on her Aegis....
, has been typically translated as "wallet". Usage of the term "wallet" in its modern meaning of "billfold" in American English dates to 1834.

Billfolds were developed after the introduction of paper currency

Banknote

A banknote is a kind of negotiable instrument, a promissory note made by a bank payable to the bearer on demand, used as money, and in many jurisdictions is legal tender....
to the West in the 1600s. (The first paper currency was introduced in the New World by the Massachusetts Bay Colony

Massachusetts Bay Colony

The Massachusetts Bay Colony was an English settlement on the east coast of North America in the 17th century, in New England, centered around the present-day cities of Salem, Massachusetts and Boston, Massachusetts....
in 1690.) Prior to the introduction of paper currency, purses (usually simple drawstring leather pouches) were used for storing coin

Coin

A coin is a piece of hard material, usually metal or a metallic material, usually in the shape of a Disk , and most often issued by a government....
s. Early wallets were made primarily of cow or horse leather and included a small pouch for printed calling cards

Visiting card

Visiting cards also known as calling cards first appeared in China in the 15th century, and in Europe in the 17th century. The footmen of aristocrats and of Royal family would deliver these first European visiting cards to the servant s of their prospective hosts solemnly introducing the arrival...
.

The modern bi-fold wallet with multiple "card slots" became standardized in the early 1950s with the introduction of the first credit card

Credit card

A credit card is part of a system of payments named after the small plastic card issued to users of the system. It is a card entitling its holder to buy goods and services based on the holders promise to pay for these goods and services....
s. Some innovations include the introduction of the velcro

Velcro

Velcro is a brand name of fabric hook-and-loop fasteners. It consists of two layers: a "hook" side, which is a piece of fabric covered with tiny hooks, and a "loop" side, which is covered with even smaller and "hairier" loops....
-closure wallet in the 1970s.

Varieties

Wallets are usually designed to hold banknotes and credit cards and fit into a pocket (or handbag). Small cases for securing banknotes which do not have space for credit cards or identification cards may be classified as money clip

Money clip

A money clip is a device typically used to store cash and/or credit cards in a very compact fashion for those who do not wish to carry a wallet....
s.

Breast wallet (also called a "secretary wallet" or "passage wallet"): a wallet in which the banknotes are not folded. They are intended for men's breast pocket in a jacket, or for a handbag. They are too large for storage in a pant (trouser) pocket.
Bi-fold wallet: a type of wallet in which the banknotes are folded over once. This has become the "standard" wallet. Credit cards and identification cards may be stored horizontally or vertically.
Tri-fold wallet: a wallet with three folds, in which credit cards are generally stored vertically.
Front pocket wallet (or money clip): a case with no currency compartment and very few pockets for cards. Usually banknotes are folded and held to the wallet with a metal clip.
A chain wallet is a wallet secured to the pants by a chain. It was first popularized by bikers who wanted to keep from losing their wallet while riding a motorcycle
Motorcycle

A motorcycle is a Single track, two-wheeled motor vehicle powered by an Motorcycle engine. Motorcycles vary considerably depending on the task for which they are designed, such as Touring motorcycle travel, navigating Naked bike, Cruiser , Motorcycle sport and Motorbike racing, or off-road conditions....
. Its popularity had a resurgence in the early 1990's with the grunge fashion
Grunge fashion

The 1990s in popular culture is typically referred to as the decade of "anti-fashion". In reality, anti-fashion was only one of many trends in fashion in the 1990s; The fashion of the 1990s was also characterized by many overlapping, often contradictory trends....
movement.

Some wallets, particularly in Europe (where larger denominated coins are more prevalent) contain a coin purse compartment. Some wallets have built-in clasps or bands to keep them closed. As European banknotes (pound

Pound sterling

----The pound sterling , subdivided into 100 pence , is the currency of the United Kingdom, its Crown dependency and the British Overseas Territories of South Georgia and the South Sandwich Islands and British Antarctic Territory....
s, euro

Euro

The euro is the official currency of 16 out of 27 European Union member state of the European Union . The states, known collectively as the Eurozone are: Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Republic of Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Spain....
s) are larger than American banknotes in one dimension, they don't fit in some smaller American wallets.

Features

A wallet generally has one or more currency pockets; in some cases, there may also be a money clip. Wallets usually have one or more pockets for storing credit card or identification cards, which may be oriented vertically or horizontally.

Wallets may also have an identification pocket, which facilitates the display of a regularly-used piece of identification such as workplace ID or a bus pass, by housing it within a transparent "window". A wallet may also have photo pockets, which are designed to hold a collection of small personal photographs. A wallet may also have a small pouch for coins or keys.

Some wallets, called chain wallets are attached to metal chains which are then clipped onto a belt, as a way of preventing loss or theft by pickpockets. Some travellers replace wallets with money belt

Money belt

File:Jack Wolfskin money belt - brown.JPGA money belt is a belt with a pouch attached to the front which is worn under a shirt to protect valuables from thieves and/or pickpockets....
s, which are belts with a hidden money compartment.

Designers

Most major designers including Gucci

Gucci

The House of Gucci, better known simply as Gucci, is an iconic Italy fashion design and leather goods label. It was founded by Guccio Gucci in Florence in 1921....
, Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton Malletier , commonly referred to as Louis Vuitton, or sometimes shortened to LV, is a France luxury goods company. Founded in 1854, one of the main divisions of LVMH headquartered in Paris, France....
and Armani offer seasonal and perennial wallet collections of black and brown leather wallets. In the UK, wallets are made by Mulberry, Radley, Paul Smith

Paul Smith (fashion designer)

Sir Paul Smith, Royal Designers for Industry, is an England fashion designer, whose business and reputation is founded upon his menswear. He is both commercially successful and highly respected within the fashion industry....
, Ted Baker

Ted Baker

Ted Baker is a United Kingdom clothing retail company, known for applying twists to their products, and has become a UK designer label through word of mouth rather than advertising....
, Burberry

Burberry

Burberry is a British luxury fashion house, manufacturing clothing and fashion accessory. Its distinctive tartan pattern has become one of its most widely copied trademarks....
, and Aspinal of London. In the US, designers include Guess, Perry Ellis, Coach, Kenneth Cole and Fossil.

Major retailers (such as the UK's John Lewis Partnership

John Lewis Partnership

The John Lewis Partnership is a major United Kingdom retailer which operates John Lewis department stores, Waitrose supermarkets and the direct services company Greenbee....
or Neiman Marcus

Neiman Marcus

Neiman Marcus is a luxury specialty retail department store, operated by the Neiman Marcus Group in the United States. The company is headquartered in Dallas, Texas, Texas, and competes with other exclusive department stores such as Barneys New York, Saks Fifth Avenue, Nordstrom, Lord & Taylor, and Bloomingdale's....
in USA) usually sell a wide selection of men's wallets, including branded and house-name wallets. Specialist designers include Ben & Dafna, who create wallets made from duct tape

Duct tape

Duct tape is a vinyl, fabric-reinforced, multi-purpose pressure sensitive tape with a soft and tacky pressure sensitive adhesive. It is generally silver or black in color but many other colors and #Color variants tapes have recently become available....
in Camden Market

Camden Market

The Camden Markets are a number of adjoining large Marketplace in Camden Town near the Hampstead Road Lock of the Regent's Canal , often called collectively "Camden Market" or "Camden Lock"....
; J Fold, that offer a large range of colourful leather wallets; Stewart-Stand, a New York design house that designs wallets made from woven stainless steel; and db clay a company based in Portland Oregon that creates unique wallets dubbed "pocket art".

Wallet

History

Varieties

Features

Designers

See also