I really enjoyed reading about, “A Brief History of the Receipt.” It begins with an explanation of how many of us use and dispose of receipts so easily today. It was very cool to see in Figure 2 the Proto-Cuneiform Tablet which was a receipt for two small amounts of grains. Something that now is on my mind is in the video about the Cuneiform, it had stated that those writings haven’t been able to be transcribed until the Victorian era. This means that for many years, whoever kept that specific Proto-Cuneiform Tablet, had no idea it was a simple receipt for two amounts of grains. These tablets were originally created by the customers to keep track of how much they’ve spent, but in later years the merchants were the ones creating them. I also read that in the medieval and late Roman time to make a traveler not be forced to carry around their money, they deposit their money to a bank or a moneylender and in return they’ll give them a receipt for their travels. When they arrive at their destination that receipt will allow them receive their money as long as a small fee is paid. This helped the banks earn more money and helped the travelers to not carry around their heavy money. This exchange certainly increased the value in receipts.
I work at a TJ Maxx store near my hometown so receipts are all around me when I work on the register. Something that I did notice is that the receipts are not just for purchases but when someone gets a TJX rewards credit card. Now me personally I’m not a fan of the register or when someone asks for a TJX credit card as it’s a long process. When someone does want one usually when they’re approved I give them a receipt and that receipt is their temporary shopping pass until their credit card is in the mail. It has all their new credit information and when used, it gets charged to the new account.
The Evolution of Receipt Paper
This page provides information about how the receipt paper itself was chosen. From the start it was made of animal skin by parchment and papyrus scrolls. This then moved to China being a step ahead of everyone by starting paper making while everyone stuck with the Ancient roots using parchment. The paper receipts we normally see today were made to reduce the need of maintenance and be created quickly. Although as time goes on the popularity of online receipts are starting to pickup.
