Rachel Webster

When we were kids watching our parents be grown-ups, we idealized the edgier sides of adulthood. It was never doing the dishes or paying the bills or mowing the lawn. It was always a little bit sexy. Like walking around with a corded phone while applying lipstick. Tapping a keyboard with long nails. Making your high heels echo down a marble corridor.

When we were kids watching our parents be grown-ups, we idealized the edgier sides of adulthood. It was never doing the dishes or paying the bills or mowing the lawn. It was always a little bit sexy. Like walking around with a corded phone while applying lipstick. Tapping a keyboard with long nails. Making your high heels echo down a marble corridor.

And boy, oh boy, was it swiping a credit card.

And boy, oh boy, was it swiping a credit card.

Don't I feel so sleek in your hand? Just swipe me, see what it does.

Don't I feel so sleek in your hand? Just swipe me, see what it does.

Use your Chase card. Are you still slumming it on a wobbly barstool with a $20 glass of Chardonnay you ordered from an off-brand iPad while balancing your carry-on suitcase with your one free leg? Flash that Delta Sky Miles Amex and get into that lounge, girl. Thanks to Rewards Points, everyone can be a VIP. Security. Access. Perks.

Use your Chase card. Are you still slumming it on a wobbly barstool with a $20 glass of Chardonnay you ordered from an off-brand iPad while balancing your carry-on suitcase with your one free leg? Flash that Delta Sky Miles Amex and get into that lounge, girl. Thanks to Rewards Points, everyone can be a VIP. Security. Access. Perks.

It's wielding power so effortlessly, it takes nothing more than the flick of a wrist to get everything you ever wanted. And double points for every dollar spent. More.

It's wielding power so effortlessly, it takes nothing more than the flick of a wrist to get everything you ever wanted. And double points for every dollar spent. More.

Tell me about your first credit card.

Tell me about your first credit card.

What did you do at The Gap?

What did you do at The Gap?

Oh, my God. I didn't even know you could do that.

Oh, my God. I didn't even know you could do that.

But what the Gap Card did offer Jamie was at least a sense of freedom. Like, she could take care of this unfortunate situation on her own. And there was a time, not even that long ago, that this sort of secret financial workaround wouldn't have even been possible for women.

But what the Gap Card did offer Jamie was at least a sense of freedom. Like, she could take care of this unfortunate situation on her own. And there was a time, not even that long ago, that this sort of secret financial workaround wouldn't have even been possible for women.

In our initial research into the origin of the credit card, we discovered that it was rare for women to have their own credit card before 1974. And...

In our initial research into the origin of the credit card, we discovered that it was rare for women to have their own credit card before 1974. And...