Carbon copy

For other uses, see Carbon copy (disambiguation).
"cc:" redirects here. For other uses, see CC (disambiguation).
A copy made with carbon paper

Before the development of photographic copiers, a carbon copy was the under-copy of a typed or written document placed over carbon paper and the under-copy sheet itself (not to be confused with the carbon print family of photographic reproduction processes).[1] When copies of business letters were so produced, it was customary to use the acronym "CC" or "cc" before a colon and below the writer's signature to inform the principal recipient that carbon copies had been made and distributed to the parties listed after the colon.[2] With the advent of word processors and e-mail, "cc" is used as a merely formal indication of the distribution of letters to secondary recipients.

  1. ^ Raj (2020-07-13). "History of CC and BCC before Emails". Budding Geek. Archived from the original on 2022-12-06. Retrieved 2020-07-20.
  2. ^ Beal, Peter. (2008) "carbon copy" in A Dictionary of English Manuscript Terminology 1450–2000. Online edition. Oxford University Press, 2008. http://www.oxfordreference.com Archived 2013-06-02 at the Wayback Machine Retrieved 22 November 2013.