The first general purpose charge card was made for paying at restaurants.

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A vintage manual card imprinter used to take card payments
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1950

The first general purpose charge card was made for paying at restaurants.

Yes. Diners Club, founded in New York in 1950, is widely recognised as the first general purpose charge card. It started with restaurants and grew to hotels, travel and shops.

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A modern McDonald's restaurant in Franklin, North Carolina
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Rent

McDonald's makes most of its franchise money from rent, not burgers.

Rent is the largest revenue category McDonald's reports from franchised restaurants, ahead of royalties. That does not mean rent is most of all corporate revenue, or that every franchise follows the same property arrangement.

NintendoCards
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1889

Nintendo was founded in 1889 to sell handmade playing cards.

Nintendo traces its origins to Fusajiro Yamauchi making hanafuda playing cards in Kyoto in 1889. Its first home video game machines arrived in 1977, nearly nine decades later.

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