how card size is established

was wondering about this question few months ago..

but i just googled..haha

here is the answer

http://www.forbes.com/sites/quora/2013/02/04/how-was-the-standard-size-of-a-credit-card-or-a-business-card-established/


The earliest known visiting cards were the same size as the deck of playing cards. Not much information is available as to how they were reduced to the size of the current business card, though there are many educated guesses. Some say, it was the side-by-side placement on the printing press, some say the pockets in the wallets were the limiting factor, there is some limited indication that the card size was to match the pocket tobacco box to which these cards were held with a rubber band. There have been numerous debates that some of the famous printers of the time who were capitalising on the visiting / business cards, found out that the most apt and affordable size of the printing plate was that of the modern day era business card. The larger the card, the more expensive it was to print.