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This is the billhead of R. MacRae & Sons, motor car engineers and post horse masters. The bill was issued in 1914.

In 1878, Roderick Macrae of Beauly and William Dick of Redcastle became business partners in a firm that offered horses and horse drawn carriages for hire and also acted as a posting establishment.

With the arrival of the motor car, Macrae & Dick became interested not only in the hiring of cars but also in the servicing and sale of them. As this part of the business increased, the horse hiring and posting element declined. Today, the company is still one of the leading motor industry firms throughout the north of Scotland

Billheads were used in business transactions from about the 18th century until the middle of the 20th century. In its later years it evolved into the letterhead and was also used for correspondence. The billhead developed from what was known as the trade card and in addition to serving as an invoice and receipt it was also a means of advertising business. In general, billheads consisted of the company name, trade, trademark and address. Also included was an invoice number, terms of payment, a list of items bought and an invoice total. Some billheads also printed an illustration of the shop or factory and a list of products sold such as hats, shoes or tobacco.

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