The Original Facebook

The next time you’re asked to produce your photo ID, you can thank (or blame) the 1876 World Expo in Philadelphia.

From the very first World’s Fair in 1851, Expos experienced problems with accurately identifying exhibitors, employees, press, and various officials who sauntered in and out of their grounds. Issuing them a signed card or pass would have been pointless since it could be handed off to anyone else.

That’s when the Canadian photographer William Notman, whose Centennial Photographic Co. had the exclusive photographic concession at the 1876 exhibition, came up with an idea for something he called the "photographic ticket.”

The photographic ticket was, as you can probably infer from the name, a photo-identification system that was required for all exhibitors and employees at the event. But compared to modern day driver’s licenses and other forms of ID, it was more a work of art than one of bureaucracy. Designed like a book-cover, the tickets were engraved by a bank-note company with the touches that made them look like a William Morris wallpaper. On the front was the name of the holder, and the position they held at the Expo. Inside, there were rows of numbers representing each day the Expo ran, which could be marked off when the holder entered the fairgrounds. On the right-hand side was the holder’s photo, looking way more debonair than my passport picture does today.