Throwback Thursday: The History Of Payments And Commerce (Cartoon Style)

In today’s hustle and bustle of the business world, there isn’t a lot of time to sit back, relax and think about the history of an industry.

Let alone go digging around to find the history of an industry like payments and commerce. Undoubtably, it’s an industry you’re most likely deeply invested in — otherwise you wouldn’t be reading PYMNTS. And while we often bring you daily doses of what’s going on with payments, financial, tech, retail and commerce companies, today we’d just like you to take a moment to relax.

Yes, you read that right. Relax. What a concept, huh? To help you relax, and enjoy a little history lesson in the meantime (so it feels like you’re working), we’ve gathered a few entertaining cartoons that, in short, give you the history of how the payments and commerce industries took shape. Enjoy this week’s cartoon version of our Throwback Thursday feature.

The History Of Money (as told by cartoons)

The Invention of Money and Currency: Part II

Incase you’ve still got a few minutes on your hands, here’s another take on how the world of currency came to be, as told by this colorful illustration:

The Story Of Money: Part III

And finally, here’s another whimsical cartoon that shares the history of how money came to be what it’s thought of today. Remember the concept of bartering? Well, this video shows what the term payment used to mean before it meant paying in currency.

This particular cartoon shows how money has transformed into the invisible payment that we so often reference in our articles about digital payments today.

Enjoy!