Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Miscellaneous/2012 November 20

= November 20 =

creating personal business cards using the Amex Black Card Template?
Does anyone know a site that I can create customized personal business cards (not fraudulent credit cards, just regular business cards id like to hand out to my client like every professional does) using the American express Black Card template? or i'd even consider something similar but want it to be as close as possible. I thought it would be a unique business card rather than the boring cards i get 10 times a day from people. I want my business card to stand out, can anyone help me with this? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.14.168.233 (talk) 13:07, 20 November 2012 (UTC)
 * I am not a lawyer, and we do not give legal advice here, but have you considered the copyright issues involved in doing this? You'd need to seek advice elsewhere regarding the possible consequences of any near duplication... AndyTheGrump (talk) 13:30, 20 November 2012 (UTC)


 * There are websites that provide free business card templates with a good variety of colors, themes, symbols, fonts, etc. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 14:23, 20 November 2012 (UTC)
 * (follow up on Andy's post) Also trade mark, passing off and/or unfair competition issues, depending on what jurisdiction you are in. If it is a professional business card, especially if you are in business yourself, then you really do need to consult a lawyer if you don't want to be sued by Amex --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 10:12, 21 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Definitely, using someone else's logo, for any kind of identification purpose, runs a major risk of legal trouble. ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 12:42, 21 November 2012 (UTC)
 * I wouldn't be surprised if Amex has some kind of protection over the overall design or even colour of its cards. --PalaceGuard008 (Talk) 12:57, 23 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Why not just go to local stationary supply stores in your area and start inquiring about business cards. They may have some different designs for people like you who want to buck the current trend of boring white business cards. Or you could get a graphic designer to design your own. Dismas |(talk) 12:49, 21 November 2012 (UTC)
 * That's discrimination against moving supply stores. --   Jack of Oz   [Talk]  20:00, 21 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Moving supply stores sell big cardboard boxes and packing tape; I've never seen one that printed business cards. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 01:26, 22 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Jack was not talking about moving-supply stores, but about moving supply stores. --Trovatore (talk) 01:30, 22 November 2012 (UTC)
 * Yes, thanks, I already understood the joke. While he was playing with the stationary versus stationery homonym error, I was riffing on the moving (supply store) versus (moving supply) store ambiguity.  I'm putting this whole exchange into small type so that no one else gets confused that it's a joke. TenOfAllTrades(talk) 04:22, 22 November 2012 (UTC)
 * It's not a homonym _error_, stationery is so called as it was originally sold by stationers, who remained stationary at their stalls, as opposed to the peripatetic chapmen. Or should that be person-persons? Tevildo (talk) 21:30, 22 November 2012 (UTC)
 * So would a cemetery by sold by cemeters? ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 17:32, 24 November 2012 (UTC)

Director of Education of Berkshire
In the 1950s, the Director of Education of Berkshire, was a Mr. Whitfield. Can a user please let me know what Mr. Whitfield's first name was and where he lived? Thank you Simonschaim (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 16:02, 20 November 2012 (UTC)
 * I put a little time into searching for this person. Probably because he was apparently not very notable and because his position predated the internet by so many decades, I didn't turn anything up. You might get a better result if you inquire at the Berkshire Record Office. Alternatively, if you are in Berkshire, your local public library might have a directory from that time that would list him. Marco polo (talk) 17:27, 20 November 2012 (UTC)
 * After giving Google a damned good thrashing, I got a search result that said "He asked Mr. T. W. D.. Whitfield, director of education for Berkshire, if...". I can't see the pdf file it refers to. A guess as to what the initial "T" stands for:- I found this list of 1890 babies' names for 1890 (our man would probably be in his 50s or 60s, so not far off), and Thomas is ranked number 4, with Tom at no 36, Timothy at no 136 and Trevor at 184. There are no other "T"s in the list, although Terence and Tobias are remote possibilities. Alansplodge (talk) 18:45, 21 November 2012 (UTC)

Thank you for the replies. I wrote to the Berkshire Record Office and promptly received the following answer: The name of the then Director of Education of Berkshire was Trevor Drought Warburton Whitfield. His address was 1-5 Abbot's Walk, Reading, although this was most likely his office address. The source of the Record Office's information is the 1952 Kelly's Directory of Reading. Simonschaim (talk) —Preceding undated comment added 08:01, 22 November 2012 (UTC)


 * They look like offices. What inspired his parents to call him "Drought", we may never know. Alansplodge (talk) 18:14, 22 November 2012 (UTC)