# ... Why did wallets in the past come with fake family photos but now no longer? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 4, 2023, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547 "2023-07-04T09:38:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/1 "2023-07-04T09:38:48Z")
Yeah it’s a hack joke (first part at least) but why did wallets originally have fake family photos in them when you bought them, but now when you buy a wallet it’s completely empty? So yes two part question. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/2 "2023-07-04T11:35:16Z")
Just a guess, but perhaps when photo sleeves were added to wallets, the fakes were inserted to make it clear what the sleeves were for? And now everyone keeps photos on their phones, so nobody cares? Best guess… ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 11:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/3 "2023-07-04T11:42:04Z")
I once bought a pretty 5x7 frame because of the picture in the frame. I had it hanging for years, and even created a backstory about the woman pictured. ---
**Author:** ![dirtball](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dirtball/32/18772_2.png) [@dirtball](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dirtball)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 1:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/4 "2023-07-04T13:19:41Z")
Maybe at first, they thought of it as akin to staging a house for sale, with the idea that it looks more appealing if it’s not empty. Then, maybe, general sentiment came to a consensus that it seemed pointless to go to the expense of including pictures of people who’ll be complete strangers to the eventual buyer. Maybe. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/5 "2023-07-04T13:22:54Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Maybe at first, they thought of it as akin to staging a house for sale, with the idea that it looks more appealing if it’s not empty. Then, maybe, general sentiment came to a consensus that it seemed pointless to go to the expense of including pictures of people who’ll be complete strangers to the eventual buyer. The first part makes perfect sense. And it was easy back in the old days when only straight white men bought wallets. ---
**Author:** ![Frodo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/frodo/32/302_2.png) [@Frodo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frodo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 1:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/6 "2023-07-04T13:24:18Z")
The wallet manufacturer divorced and is not on speaking terms with his sons… ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 1:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/7 "2023-07-04T13:25:19Z")
It cost money to add a picture and placed in a sleeve, it was cost reðuced out by the bean counters. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/8 "2023-07-04T13:34:08Z")
> [@dirtball](#): > > Maybe at first, they thought of it as akin to staging a house for sale, with the idea that it looks more appealing if it’s not empty If someone wanted to “stage” a wallet, maybe they should put a (fake) $5 bill in the main part. The part which embodied the actual function: carrying money. And they could stop because modern wallets rarely carry cash, thanks to the same digital trends as photographs . Your money is 1s and 0s in a server someplace, accessed by a piece of plastic or on your phone. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/9 "2023-07-04T13:41:08Z")
Do wallets even have photo sleeves anymore? Mine doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 2:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/10 "2023-07-04T14:15:14Z")
> [@Si\_Amigo](#): > > reðuced How did you get that interesting character as the “d”? ---
**Author:** ![Pardel-Lux](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pardel-lux/32/20182_2.png) [@Pardel-Lux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pardel-Lux)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/11 "2023-07-04T14:34:48Z")
It’s an eth, you can copy and paste it from [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eth) or [typology cheatsheets](https://www.typewolf.com/cheatsheet), you can type Alt+(0240) (lowercase) or [Alt](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alt_key)+(0208) (uppercase)… ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/12 "2023-07-04T14:41:50Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > If someone wanted to “stage” a wallet, maybe they should put a (fake) $5 bill in the main part. The part which embodied the actual function: carrying money. I used to see them with fake credit cards in those sleeves as well (and, as a kid, thought it was cool to nab those to play with). So I assume the photo and cards were to inform the purchaser of what the sleeves could be used for and make the wallet feel more ‘personal’. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 2:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/13 "2023-07-04T14:42:26Z")
I miss the good old wallet days, when I could show off photos of the pretend family, which looked so normal compared to my own. 🙁 ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/14 "2023-07-04T14:43:44Z")
Rodney Dangerfield said that his father left the fake photos in his wallet. ---
**Author:** ![RivkahChaya](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rivkahchaya/32/8919_2.png) [@RivkahChaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RivkahChaya)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/15 "2023-07-04T14:48:11Z")
I would guess it’s two-part. One part is customers wanting reduced packaging because there’s less waste, and it’s really a lot of paper if you think how many wallets are sold every year. When companies do tally sheets of materials used other than in direct manufacturing, they can say they’ve eliminated _n_ reams of paper. The other is what someone mentioned about straight white men. As more and more non-white, other-than-straight, other-than-male, and unmarried people start demanding recognition, it becomes easier to make marketing less specific rather than try and create separate products for every group. The latter notwithstanding, I love my Nancy Drew wallet, that comes in leather and canvas versions, and the canvas (advertised as “vegan”) one cost more, but I paid it. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/16 "2023-07-04T14:52:51Z")
I worked with somebody who had several framed pictures on her desk, one of which she claimed was her boyfriend. Then one of our coworkers saw all the same pictures/frames at a store. Hobby Lobby, if I recall. She was a weird duck. Eventually was escorted out of the building one day after being a little too nutters. ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/17 "2023-07-04T14:55:23Z")
I can assure you that it wasn’t on porpoise. ---
**Author:** ![Mallard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Mallard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mallard)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/18 "2023-07-04T17:08:43Z")
Didn’t Mr Bean pretend the “fake” photos were his family or friends? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2023, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/19 "2023-07-04T17:52:22Z")
Famously, in 1938 many department stores sold a particular brand of wallet with a fake Social Security card in it. The fakes were all identical. They had the name and number of the secretary of the President of the wallet manufacturer. Tens of thousands of people used that number over the years, some of them into the late 1970s. [https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html](https://www.ssa.gov/history/ssn/misused.html) ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2023, 3:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547/20 "2023-07-05T15:49:13Z")
> [@RivkahChaya](#): > > As more and more non-white, other-than-straight, other-than-male, and unmarried people start demanding recognition, it becomes easier to make marketing less specific rather than try and create separate products for every group. I was thinking this way. This particular form of product promotion has been evolving into a way of offending potential customers more than anything else. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-did-wallets-in-the-past-come-with-fake-family-photos-but-now-no-longer/986547.md?page=2)