This well-used piece of paper was one of the first charge cards, and it was issued to a Member of Congress. In 1914, Western Union pioneered the merger of centralized billing and credit. They provided cards to government officials, who could use them to send official messages to and from anywhere in the nation. Representative George Neeley of Kansas would present this card at a Western Union office, and his telegram was charged at the government rate to the billing account “House of Representatives.”
