A wallet is a flat case or pouch often used to carry small personal items such as

paper currency A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes were originally issued ...

credit cards A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...

; identification documents such as

driver's license A driver's license is a legal authorization, or the official document confirming such an authorization, for a specific individual to operate one or more types of motorized vehicles—such as motorcycles, cars, trucks, or buses—on a public ...

identification card An identity document (also called ID or colloquially as papers) is any document that may be used to prove a person's identity. If issued in a small, standard credit card size form, it is usually called an identity card (IC, ID card, citizen ca ...

club card A loyalty program is a marketing strategy designed to encourage customers to continue to shop at or use the services of a business associated with the program. Today, such programs cover most types of commerce, each having varying features and ...

;

photograph A photograph (also known as a photo, image, or picture) is an image created by light falling on a photosensitive surface, usually photographic film or an electronic image sensor, such as a CCD or a CMOS chip. Most photographs are now create ...

transit pass A transit pass (North American English) or travel card (British English), often referred to as a bus pass or train pass etc. (in all English dialects), is a ticket that allows a passenger of the service to take either a certain number of pre-purch ...

business card Business cards are cards bearing business information about a company or individual. They are shared during formal introductions as a convenience and a memory aid. A business card typically includes the giver's name, company or business aff ...

s and other

paper Paper is a thin sheet material produced by mechanically or chemically processing cellulose fibres derived from wood, rags, grasses or other vegetable sources in water, draining the water through fine mesh leaving the fibre evenly distributed ...

laminate Lamination is the technique/process of manufacturing a material in multiple layers, so that the composite material achieves improved strength, stability, sound insulation, appearance, or other properties from the use of the differing materials ...

d cards. Wallets are generally made of

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hogs, ...

fabric Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

s, and they are usually

pocket A pocket is a bag- or envelope-like receptacle either fastened to or inserted in an article of clothing to hold small items. Pockets are also attached to luggage, backpacks, and similar items. In older usage, a pocket was a separate small bag o ...

-sized and foldable. Wallets may include money clips, coin purses, a chain fastener, strap, or rein, or a zipper. There are specialized wallets for holding passports, wearable ID cards, and checkbooks. Some unusual wallets are worn on the wrist or shoe. Wallets may be used as a fashion accessory, or to demonstrate the style, wealth, or status of the owner.

Etymology

The word originated in the late 14th century, meaning "bag" or "knapsack", from uncertain origin (Norman-French ''golette'' (little snout)?), or from similar Germanic word, from the Proto-Germanic term "wall", which means "roll" (from the root "wel", meaning "to turn or revolve." (see for example "knapzak" in Dutch and Frisian). The early usage by

Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

described something that we would recognise as more like a backpack today. The modern meaning of "flat case for carrying paper money" is first recorded in 1834 in American English. The ancient Greek word ''kibisis'', said to describe the pouch carried by the god

Hermes Hermes (; grc-gre, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travellers, thieves, merchants, and orato ...

and the sack in which the mythical hero

Perseus In Greek mythology, Perseus (Help:IPA/English, /ˈpɜːrsiəs, -sjuːs/; Greek language, Greek: Περσεύς, Romanization of Greek, translit. Perseús) is the legendary founder of Mycenae and of the Perseid dynasty. He was, alongside Cadmus ...

carried the severed head of the monster

Medusa In Greek mythology, Medusa (; Ancient Greek: Μέδουσα "guardian, protectress"), also called Gorgo, was one of the three monstrous Gorgons, generally described as winged human females with living venomous snakes in place of hair. Those ...

, has been typically translated as "wallet".

History

Ancient Greece

The classicist A. Y. Campbell set out to answer the question, "What...in ancient literature, are the uses of a wallet?" He deduced, as a Theocritean scholar, that "the wallet was the poor man's portable larder; or, poverty apart, it was a thing that you stocked with provisions." He found that sometimes a man may be eating out of it directly but the most characteristic references allude to its being "replenished as a store", not in the manner of a lunch basket but more as a survival pack.

Renaissance

Wallets were developed after the introduction of

to the West in the 1600s. (The first paper currency was introduced in the New World by the

Massachusetts Bay Colony The Massachusetts Bay Colony (1630–1691), more formally the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, was an English settlement on the east coast of North America around the Massachusetts Bay, the northernmost of the several colonies later reorganized as the ...

in 1690.) Prior to the introduction of paper currency,

coin purse A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order to ...

s (usually simple drawstring leather pouches) were used for storing

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

s. Early wallets were made primarily of cow or horse leather and included a small pouch for printed calling cards. In recounting the life of the

Elizabethan The Elizabethan era is the epoch in the Tudor period of the history of England during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I (1558–1603). Historians often depict it as the golden age in English history. The symbol of Britannia (a female personifi ...

merchant,

John Frampton John Frampton was a 16th-century English merchant from the West Country, who settled in Spain, was imprisoned and tortured by the Inquisition, and escaped from Cádiz in 1567. He became a translator of Spanish works, partly inspired by revenge. ...

, Lawrence C. Wroth describes the merchant as, "a young English-man of twenty-five years, decently dressed, ..., wearing a sword, and carrying fixed to his belt something he called a 'bowgett' (or budget), that is, a leathern pouch or wallet in which he carried his cash, his book of accounts, and small articles of daily necessity".

19th century

In addition to money or currency, a wallet would also be used for carrying dried meat, victuals, "treasures", and "things not to be exposed". Wallets originally were used by early Industrial Americans. It was considered "semi-civilized" in 19th century America to carry one's wallet on one's belt. At this time, carrying goods or a wallet in one's pocket was considered uncivilized and uncommon. In

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, a wallet was a case for smoking paraphernalia: "Every man would carry a small sheaf of white paper in addition to a small leather wallet which would contain a flint and steel along with a small quantity of so-called ''yesca'', being a dried vegetable fibre which a spark would instantly ignite."

20th century–present

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

credit card A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...

s. Some innovations include the introduction of the

velcro Velcro, officially known as Velcro IP Holdings LLC and trading as Velcro Companies, is a British privately held company, founded by Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral in the 1950s. It is the original manufacturer of hook-and-loop fasten ...

-closure wallet in the 1970s. Pocket-sized wallets remain popular to this day. For

cryptocurrencies A cryptocurrency, crypto-currency, or crypto is a digital currency designed to work as a medium of exchange through a computer network that is not reliant on any central authority, such as a government or bank A bank is a financial i ...

that only exist in cyberspace as entries in some online ledger, a "cryptocurrency wallet" is a computing tool whose purpose is to securely keep the owner’s secret key, to authenticate the owner, and to let the owner sign transactions securely. A "hardware wallet" is a single purpose computer to do this even more safely.

Contemporary examples

Wallets are usually designed to hold banknotes and credit cards and fit into a pocket or handbag. Small cases for securing

banknotes A banknote—also called a bill (North American English), paper money, or simply a note—is a type of negotiable instrument, negotiable promissory note, made by a bank or other licensed authority, payable to the bearer on demand. Banknotes w ...

which do not have space for credit cards or identification cards may be classified as

money clip A money clip is a device typically used to store cash and credit cards in a very compact fashion for those who do not wish to carry a wallet. Metal A metal money clip is generally a solid piece of metal folded into half, such that the banknot ...

s: this may also be used to describe small cases designed to hold

ISO/IEC 7810 ISO/IEC 7810 ''Identification cards — Physical characteristics'' is an international standard that defines the physical characteristics for identification cards. The characteristics specified include: * Physical dimensions * Resistance to b ...

cards alone. * ''Breast wallet'' (also called a "secretary wallet"): a wallet in which banknotes are not folded. They are intended for men's breast pocket in a jacket, or for a handbag. Breast wallets will often hold cheques and other monetary documents as they are too large for storage in a pants pocket. * ''Bi-fold wallet'': a type of wallet in which the banknotes are folded over once. Credit cards and identification cards may be stored horizontally or vertically. * ''Tri-fold wallet'': a wallet with two folds, in which credit cards are generally stored vertically. * ''Front pocket wallet'': a case with no currency compartment and very few pockets for cards. Usually banknotes are folded and held in a wallet compartment. * ''Money clip wallet'': similar to a front pocket wallet in terms of size, with banknotes usually held in by a clip secured by a strong magnet. * ''Long wallet'': a larger wallet typically worn with jeans, fastened by a chain, strap, or leather band. Bills are held flat, and long wallets typically have a coin purse. Popularized by bikers to secure their wallets while riding a

motorcycle A motorcycle (motorbike, bike, or trike (if three-wheeled)) is a two or three-wheeled motor vehicle steered by a handlebar. Motorcycle design varies greatly to suit a range of different purposes: long-distance travel, commuting, cruising ...

, smaller chained wallets became popular in 1970s−'80s

punk fashion Punk fashion is the clothing, hairstyles, cosmetics, jewellery, and body modifications of the punk counterculture. Punk fashion varies widely, ranging from Vivienne Westwood designs to styles modeled on bands like The Exploited to the dressed-dow ...

and in the early 1990s with the

grunge fashion Grunge fashion is the clothing, accessories and hairstyles of the grunge music genre and subculture which emerged in mid-1980s Seattle, and had reached wide popularity by the mid 90s. Grunge fashion is characterized by durable and timeless thri ...

movement as well as

heavy metal fashion Heavy metal fashion is the style of dress, body modification, make-up, hairstyle, and so on, taken on by fans of heavy metal, or, as they are often called, metalheads or headbangers. While the style has changed from the 1970s to the 2020s, cert ...

. Long wallets are popular with men in cash-based countries like

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

and may reflect Native American aesthetic influence. * ''Wallet band'': a type of wallet that uses a continuous elastic band, made of fabric or rubber, to secure cards and/or cash. Wallet bands reduce the bulk of a traditional wallet. * ''Wristlet'': a type of wallet that can be secured to the wrist, to keep one's hands free. * ''Travel wallet'': used by

travel Travel is the movement of people between distant geographical locations. Travel can be done by foot, bicycle, automobile, train, boat, bus, airplane, ship or other means, with or without luggage, and can be one way or round trip. Travel c ...

lers to hold essential documentation together, such as

passport A passport is an official travel document issued by a government that contains a person's identity. A person with a passport can travel to and from foreign countries more easily and access consular assistance. A passport certifies the personal ...

tickets Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery ticket * Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Toll ticket, a slip of paper used to indicate where vehicles entered a tol ...

boarding pass A boarding pass or boarding card is a document provided by an airline during airport check-in, giving a passenger permission to enter the restricted area of an airport (also known as the airside portion of the airport) and to board the air ...

es, foreign currency,

traveler's cheque A traveller's cheque is a medium of exchange that can be used in place of hard currency. They can be denominated in one of a number of major world currencies and are preprinted, fixed-amount cheques designed to allow the person signing it to ma ...

itinerary Itinerary or Itineraries or Itinerarium may refer to: Travel * Itinerarium, an Ancient Roman road map in the form of a listing of cities, villages, and other stops, with the intervening distances * ''Itinerarium Burdigalense'', also known as the ...

travel insurance Travel insurance is an insurance product for covering unforeseen losses incurred while travelling, either internationally or domestically. Basic policies generally only cover emergency medical expenses while overseas, while comprehensive policies ...

hotel A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...

booking information, and other similar items. * ''ID case''/neck pouch: thin nylon or leather cases with plastic see-through compartments designed to hold an ID card. Usually worn around the neck, many have extra pockets for holding small items, hence they also function as wallets. * ''Shoewallet'': a small pouch attached to a

shoe A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot. They are often worn with a sock. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration and fashion. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture t ...

to be used as a wallet. Designed primarily to be worn during exercise. *''

Digital wallet A digital wallet, also known as an e-wallet, is an electronic device, online service, or software program that allows one party to make electronic transactions with another party bartering digital currency units for goods and services. This can ...

'': a computer file for maintaining digital currency. *''

Cryptocurrency wallet A cryptocurrency wallet is a device, physical medium, program or a service which stores the public and/or private keys for cryptocurrency transactions. In addition to this basic function of storing the keys, a cryptocurrency wallet more often a ...

'': a digital wallet where private keys are stored for cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin. * ''Hardware wallet:'' a cryptocurrency wallet built as a separate physical device which identifies the owner, and lets the owner sign online transactions in a secure manner. * ''Side by side wallet'': divides the contents into two stacks instead of one, so it is half as thick. May be made of very thin fabric. Patented. * ''L-Zip wallet'': a rectangular shaped wallet with a zipper that runs along 2 sides of the wallet. *''Metal wallet'': a slim wallet made from metal, usually aluminum or titanium. Can be found combined with other materials such as wood or leather. * ''Credit card holder'': a rectangular shaped wallet for holding credit cards. * ''Cardholder zip wallet'': a rectangular shaped wallet with a zipper for coins and credit cardholder. * ''Checkbook'': a wallet that can hold standard-sized cheques * ''Envelope'': a long wallet that has features similar to an envelope with a covering flap. *''Automatic wallet'': a wallet with a mechanism that ejects inserted cards with a button to display them for use. Also known as a pop-up or cascading wallet. * ''Tactical wallet'': a functional wallet that incorporates a ruler, small saw, knife, bottle opener, or other tools. It is a thin, wallet-sized

multitool A multi-tool (or multitool) is a hand tool that combines several individual functions in a single unit. The smallest are credit-card or key sized units designed for carrying in a wallet or on a keyring, but others are designed to be carried ...

, with similarities to a Swiss army knife. *''RFID blocking wallet'': a wallet acting as a

faraday cage A Faraday cage or Faraday shield is an enclosure used to block electromagnetic fields. A Faraday shield may be formed by a continuous covering of conductive material, or in the case of a Faraday cage, by a mesh of such materials. Faraday cage ...

around proximity-sensing enabled cards. Can block

NFC NFC may refer to: Psychology * Need for cognition, in psychology * Need for closure, social psychological term Sports * NFC Championship Game, the National Football Conference Championship Game * NCAA Football Championship (Philippines) * Nati ...

RFID Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromag ...

signals, preventing portable RFID readers from reading sensitive data.

Fashion

Most major designers offer seasonal and perennial wallet collections of black and brown leather. Major retailers also sell a wide selection of men's wallets, including branded and house-name wallets. Branded wallets may include logos or other trademarks to identify the brand. The right wallet can add a touch of class to any outfit. When shopping for wallets, a good rule of thumb is to buy one size larger than you normally wear. This will ensure that the wallet fits comfortably and securely in your pocket. If you prefer a smaller wallet, try sizing down by half a size. You should also consider how often you use your wallet. A simple leather wallet might work fine if you carry cash only occasionally. However, if you frequently need to pay with credit cards or store large amounts of money, then you’ll probably benefit from a more durable wallet.

Materials

The traditional material for wallets is

, but many other flexible flat sheet materials can be used in their fabrication. Non-woven textiles such as

Tyvek Tyvek () is a brand of synthetic flashspun high-density polyethylene fibers. The name "Tyvek" is a registered trademark of the American multinational chemical company DuPont, which discovered and commercialized Tyvek in the late 1950s and early ...

are used, sometimes including reuse of waterproof maps printed on that material. Woven metals, such as fine mesh made of

copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

have been incorporated into wallets that are promoted as having

electromagnetic shielding In electrical engineering, electromagnetic shielding is the practice of reducing or blocking the electromagnetic field (EMF) in a space with barriers made of conductive or magnetic materials. It is typically applied to enclosures, for isolating ...

properties to protect against unauthorized scanning of embedded

RFID tag Radio-frequency identification (RFID) uses electromagnetic fields to automatically identify and track tags attached to objects. An RFID system consists of a tiny radio transponder, a radio receiver and transmitter. When triggered by an electromagn ...

Do-it-yourself "Do it yourself" ("DIY") is the method of building, modifying, or repairing things by oneself without the direct aid of professionals or certified experts. Academic research has described DIY as behaviors where "individuals use raw and semi ...

websites such as

Instructables Instructables is a website specializing in user-created and uploaded do-it-yourself projects, currently owned by Autodesk. It was created by Eric Wilhelm and Saul Griffith and launched in August 2005. Instructables is dedicated to step-by-step ...

feature many projects for making wallets out of materials such as

denim Denim is a sturdy cotton warp-faced textile in which the weft passes under two or more warp threads. This twill weaving produces a diagonal ribbing that distinguishes it from cotton duck. While a denim predecessor known as dungaree has been pr ...

Kevlar Kevlar (para-aramid) is a strong, heat-resistant synthetic fiber, related to other aramids such as Nomex and Technora. Developed by Stephanie Kwolek at DuPont in 1965, the high-strength material was first used commercially in the early 1970s a ...

, or

duct tape Duct tape (also called duck tape, from the cotton duck cloth it was originally made of) is cloth- or scrim-backed pressure-sensitive tape, often coated with polyethylene. There are a variety of constructions using different backings and adhesi ...

Regional differences

Some wallets, particularly in Europe where larger value coins are prevalent, contain a coin purse compartment. Some wallets have built-in clasps or bands to keep them closed. As European banknotes, such as

euros The euro (symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . T ...

and pounds, are typically larger than American banknotes in size, they do not fit in some smaller American wallets.

Metaphorical usage

There term wallet is also used

synecdochically Synecdoche ( ) is a type of metonymy: it is a figure of speech in which a term for a part of something is used to refer to the whole (''pars pro toto''), or vice versa (''totum pro parte''). The term comes from Greek language, Greek . Example ...

to refer to an individual's overall

personal budget A personal budget (for the budget of one person) or household budget (for the budget of one or more person living in the same dwelling) is a plan for the coordination of the resources (income) and expenses of an individual or a household. Purpo ...

. One of the definitions of "syndecdoche", by Sasse, uses a wallet reference as an example of the meaning of the term ("an abbreviated speech in which the containing vessel is mentioned instead of its contents"), such as when a person holds up their wallet to a person asking for money, while saying "here is $100". A wallet is also used as an example in a definition for the related rhetorical device of

metonymy Metonymy () is a figure of speech in which a concept is referred to by the name of something closely associated with that thing or concept. Etymology The words ''metonymy'' and ''metonym'' come from grc, μετωνυμία, 'a change of name' ...

("using a vaguely suggestive, physical object to embody a more general idea"): "If we cannot strike offenders in the heart, let us strike them in the wallet."

References

External links

{{Authority control Bags Bags (fashion) Domestic implements Fashion accessories Money containers Leather goods