By Dan Rosenberg
Over six years ago, I wrote about a connection involving matchbooks. As I mentioned, I started collecting them over fifty years ago. As cigarette smoking in restaurants diminished, so did their customized matchbooks. To compensate, I started collecting restaurant business cards. I estimate that I have over a thousand cards. Add to that the thousands of business cards that have been handed to me over several decades in the workforce (most of those have been thrown out).
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Most of the cards I’ve come across are standardized at three and a half inches long by two inches high. To confirm this, I decided to examine the notebook where I have my New Jersey cards in plastic sheets. I counted two-hundred-three cards with only two having rounded corners, or slightly less than one percent.
A few years ago, I was hired, as a consultant, by a firm in Raleigh, North Carolina to help with a couple of projects, for two of their customers, one in Philadelphia and one in New York City. As the projects evolved, my client wanted me to meet with their customers. My client had business cards printed up for me to hand to their clients.
On a Friday afternoon, a big box of new business cards arrived in the mailbox. Shortly before my wife and I left the house to go to the movies at Headquarters Plaza in Morristown, I opened the box and grabbed a few cards, placing them in my pocket.
We met Robin (yes, the publisher of this magazine) and her husband, Ben, at the theater. We had a few minutes to kill as we waited for the film to start. Robin and Ben have always been interested and supportive of my business ventures. When they asked me what was going on, I detailed my new client. I retrieved one of the business cards I just received to show them the unique design with rounded corners.
When the film ended we debated where to go for dinner. Usually, we’d have a reservation but it was a last-minute decision for the four of us to get together. We crossed Speedwell Avenue looking for a place to eat. I vaguely recall that we had Asian cuisine. I definitely remember that the restaurant’s card had rounded corners.
Since only one percent of the cards I come across have rounded corners, what are the chances that I would receive two of them, from Raleigh and Morristown in a few hours? Several people have told me that I am on the lookout for such oddities. If you spot any, I’d welcome the opportunity to add a story to this column.