It all started in 1949 when Frank McNamara scheduled a business dinner, Frank changed suits. When the waiter presented the check, Frank realized that he had left his wallet in the other suit. The embarrassing situation was solved, but that night Frank asked himself: ''why should people be limited to spending what they are carrying in cash, instead of being able to spend what they can afford?'' A year later, Frank returned to the same restaurant in New York. When the check came, Frank handed the waiter a small cardboard card, a Diner's Club Card, and signed for the meal. This event is known in the credit card industry as the ''First Supper.'' Soon the concept of ''charging it'' was picked up by merchants as an alternative form of payment to the use of cash. By 1952, the Diner's Club Card was accepted by thousands of business across the United States, and it became a status symbol for those who carried it.