Hallmark Cards

Last updated
Hallmark Cards, Inc.
Company type Private
Industry Retail, greeting card, television
Founded1907 (as Norfolk Post Card Company)
1910 (as Hall Brothers)
1928 (as Hallmark)
Founder Joyce Hall
Headquarters2501 McGee Street,
Kansas City, Missouri
,
U.S.
Number of locations
1,245 stores (September 2023)
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Donald J. Hall Jr. (executive chairman)
  • David E. Hall (executive vice chairman)
  • Mike Perry (president & CEO)
Products
  • Greeting cards
  • Gift wrap
  • Party goods
  • Giftware
  • Stationery
  • Electronic greetings
  • Keepsake ornaments
  • Media/entertainment
Brands
RevenueIncrease2.svg US$5.0 billion (2020) [1]
Owner Hall family
Number of employees
30,000 (2020) [2]
Subsidiaries
Website hallmark.com

Hallmark Cards, Inc. is a privately held, family-owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri. Founded in 1910 by Joyce Hall, Hallmark is one of the oldest and largest manufacturers of greeting cards in the United States. [3] In 1985, the company was awarded the National Medal of Arts. [4]

Contents

In addition to greeting cards, Hallmark also manufactures such products as party goods, gift wrap, and stationery. Hallmark acquired Binney & Smith in 1984, and would later change its name to Crayola, LLC after its well-known Crayola brand of crayons, markers and colored pencils. The company is also involved in television, having produced the long-running Hallmark Hall of Fame series since 1951, and launching the Hallmark Channel 50 years later (replacing an earlier joint venture with The Jim Henson Company, Odyssey Network).

History

Hallmark corporate headquarters entrance. Crown Center 6 Kansas City MO.jpg
Hallmark corporate headquarters entrance.
Hallmark corporate offices. Crown Center 5 Kansas City MO.jpg
Hallmark corporate offices.
A Hallmark Store in Toronto Eaton Centre. HallmarkEatonCentre2.jpg
A Hallmark Store in Toronto Eaton Centre.

Driven by an early 20th-century postcard craze, Joyce Clyde Hall and his older brothers, William and Rollie, began the Norfolk Post Card Company in 1907, initially headquartered in the Norfolk, Nebraska bookstore at which they worked. The next year, Rollie bought out the store's non-family business partner and it became "Hall Brothers", doing business as the Hall Book Store. The postcard business soon outgrew the store's resources, and Joyce moved it to Kansas City in 1910. By 1912, the postcard craze had faded and the company had begun selling "Christmas letters" and greeting cards, shortening its name a few years later to the Norfolk Card Company. [5]

In 1917, Hall and his brother Rollie "invented" modern wrapping paper when they ran out of traditional colored tissue paper at the stationery store and substituted fancy French envelope lining paper. After selling the lining paper again the next year, the Hall Brothers started printing their own specifically designed wrapping paper. [6] In 1922, the company expanded throughout the country. [7] The staff grew from 4 to 120 people, and the line increased from holiday cards to include everyday greeting cards.

In 1928, the company introduced the brand name Hallmark, after the hallmark symbol used by goldsmiths in London in the 14th century, and began printing the name on the back of every card. That same year, the company became the first in the greeting card industry to advertise their product nationally. Their first advertisement appeared in Ladies' Home Journal and was written by J.C. Hall himself. [7] In 1931, the Canadian William E. Coutts Company, Ltd., a major card maker, became an affiliate of Hall Brothers – their first international business venture.

In 1944, it adopted its current slogan, "When you care enough to send the very best." It was created by C. E. Goodman, a Hallmark marketing and sales executive, and written on a 3x5 card. [8] The card is on display at the company headquarters. In 1951, Hall sponsored a television program for NBC that gave rise to the Hallmark Hall of Fame , which has won 80 Emmy Awards. [9] Hallmark now has its own cable television channel, the Hallmark Channel which was established in 2001. For a period of about 15 years, Hallmark owned a stake in the Spanish language network Univision.

In 1954, the company name was changed from Hall Brothers to Hallmark. [10] In 1958, William E. Coutts Company, Ltd. was acquired by Hallmark. Until the 1990s, Hallmark's Canadian branch was known as Coutts Hallmark.

In 1973, Hallmark Cards started manufacturing Christmas ornaments. The first collection included 18 ornaments, including six glass ball ornaments. [11] The Hallmark Keepsake Ornament collection is dated and available for just one year. By 1998, 11 million American households collected Hallmark ornaments, and 250,000 people were members of the Keepsake Ornament Collector's Club. [12] The Collector's Club was launched nationally on June 1, 1987. [13] One noted Christmas ornament authority was Clara Johnson Scroggins who wrote extensively about Keepsake Ornaments and had one of the largest private collections of Christmas ornaments. [14]

In 1980, Hallmark Cards acquired Valentine & Sons of Dundee, Scotland, one of the world's oldest publishers of picture postcards. [15] In 1984, it acquired W. N. Sharpe Holdings, a 114–year old British greeting card manufacturer for $52 million. The same year, it acquired Binney & Smith (later Crayola), a manufacturer of crayons for $204 million. [16]

In 1998, Hallmark made a number of acquisitions, including Britain-based Creative Publishing (a recent spinoff of Fine Art Developments), and U.S.-based InterArt. [17] [18]

As of 2014, The Paper Store LLC is one of the largest independently owned groups of Hallmark Gold Crown stores in the United States. This partnership began in the year 1972. [19]

Employees

Worldwide, Hallmark has over 27,000 employees; 20,000 of them work in the United States, about 5,600 of whom are full-time employees. About 2,700 Hallmarkers work at the Kansas City headquarters. [1]

Management

On June 26, 2019, it was announced that Mike Perry would serve as president and CEO, while Donald J. Hall Jr. serves as executive chairman and David E. Hall as executive vice-chairman. [20] [21]

Creative resources

Hallmark's creative staff consists of around 900 artists, designers, stylists, writers, editors, and photographers. Together, they generate more than 19,000 new and redesigned greeting cards and related products per year. The company offers more than 48,000 products at any one time.

Products and services

Hallmark offers or has offered the following products and services:

Greeting cards

Hallmark birthday cards HallmarkHillcrest2.JPG
Hallmark birthday cards

Hallmark Cards feature several brands and licenses. Shoebox, the company's line of humorous cards, evolved from studio cards. Maxine was introduced in 1986 when she appeared on several Shoebox cards the year the alternative card line was launched. hoops&yoyo. and Revilo are other popular lines. Forever Friends was purchased in 1994 from English entrepreneur Andrew Brownsword, who for four years subsequently was Chief Executive of Hallmark Europe. Image Craft was acquired by the William E. Coutts Company subsidiary of Hallmark Canada in the mid-2000s.

Hallmark has provided software for creating and printing cards. This software has been known as Hallmark Card Studio, with partner Nova Development, and Microsoft Greetings Workshop in partner with Microsoft. [22]

Gift products

  • Gifts, greeting cards
  • Ornaments (primarily Christmas-themed)
  • Gift wrap
  • Personalized items
  • Party supplies
  • Books
  • Stationery
  • Sentimental frames
  • Recordable plush
  • Plush figures
  • Bookmarks
  • Snowglobes

Licensors

Some of the licensors for Hallmark's greeting cards, ornaments, and gift products include:

Hallmark Visitors Center

The Hallmark Visitors Center is located at the company's headquarters in Kansas City, Missouri. The Center features exhibits about the company's history including historic greeting cards and postcards, Christmas ornaments, exhibits from the company's art collection, and displays about the Hallmark Hall of Fame programs and awards. [23] There is also a movie about the company's history.

Hallmark School Store

Alvirne High School in Hudson, New Hampshire, operates the only Hallmark school store in the United States. Besides normal food and beverage items, the "Bronco Barn" store also sells Hallmark cards. The store is run by students in Marketing I and Marketing II classes, and is open to students all day and after school. [24]

Subsidiaries and assets

A Hallmark Gold Crown franchise in Evansville, Indiana. HGC-storefront-night Marian's.jpg
A Hallmark Gold Crown franchise in Evansville, Indiana.
A Crayola pack of 64 crayons. Crayola-64.jpg
A Crayola pack of 64 crayons.

Hallmark owns:

In addition, Hallmark Cards is the property manager of the Crown Center commercial complex, adjacent to its headquarters, and the owner of lithographer Litho-Krome Co.

Photographic Collection

In 2006, Hallmark donated its Hallmark Photographic Collection, an extensive collection of photographs by prominent photographers including Todd Webb, to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City. [27]

Maxine

"Maxine" is a fictional character featured in a line of greeting cards first published by Hallmark's Shoebox collection in 1986. As of 2017, more than 160 million Maxine greeting cards have been sold. [28] The comic strip-style character, portrayed as an irascible older woman, was created by a Hallmark in-house artist, and in addition to greeting cards has been featured on t-shirts, coffee mugs, holiday ornaments, and other items. In 2000, she was featured in an animated holiday television special, "Maxine's Christmas Carol." [29]

Hallmark Music

In the Philippines, singer Richard Tan sang a song about Hallmark Cards, entitled "No One Throws Away Memories". The song was featured in a commercial of the product in the 1970s. [30]

In the mid-1980s, the company started its music division, issuing compilation albums by a number of popular artists.[ citation needed ] In 2004, Hallmark entered into a licensing agreement with Somerset Entertainment to produce Hallmark Music CDs. [31]

Former subsidiaries

Neil Armstrong sued Hallmark Cards in 1994 after they used his name and a recording of his quote, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind" in a Christmas ornament without permission. The lawsuit was settled out of court for an undisclosed amount of money which Armstrong donated to Purdue University. The case caused Armstrong and NASA to be more careful about the use of astronaut names, photographs and recordings, and to whom he had granted permission. For non-profit and government public-service announcements, he would usually give permission. [33]

On September 6, 2007, Paris Hilton filed an injunction lawsuit against Hallmark Cards Inc., titled Hilton v. Hallmark Cards, in U.S. District Court over the unlawful use of her picture and catchphrase "That's hot" on a greeting card. The card is titled "Paris's First Day as a Waitress" with a photograph of Hilton's face on a cartoon of a waitress serving a plate of food, with a Hilton's dialogue bubble, "Don't touch that, it's hot." (which had a registered trademark on February 13, 2007). Hilton's attorney Brent Blakely said that the infringement damages would be based on profits from the $2.49 greeting cards. [34] A Hallmark spokesperson said that the card was intended as parody, protected under fair use law. [35] [36] The Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit reviewed the case and "denied Hallmark's motion to dismiss". Hilton and Hallmark Cards Inc. later settled out of court. [37]

Foreign branches

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crayola</span> American corporation

Crayola LLC, formerly the Binney & Smith Company, is an American manufacturing and retail company specializing in art supplies. It is known for its brand Crayola and best known for its crayons. The company is headquartered in Forks Township, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of the state. Since 1984, Crayola has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Hallmark Cards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christmas card</span> A major type of greeting cards

A Christmas card is a greeting card sent as part of the traditional celebration of Christmas in order to convey between people a range of sentiments related to Christmastide and the holiday season. Christmas cards are usually exchanged during the weeks preceding Christmas Day by many people in Western society and in Asia. The traditional greeting reads "wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year". There are innumerable variations on this greeting, many cards expressing more religious sentiment, or containing a poem, prayer, Christmas song lyrics or Biblical verse; others focus on the general holiday season with an all-inclusive "Season's greetings". The first modern Christmas card was by John Calcott Horsley.

E-card is an electronic postcard or greeting card, with the primary difference being that it is created using digital media instead of paper or other traditional materials. E-cards are available in many different mediums, usually on various Internet sites. They can be sent to a recipient virtually, usually via e-mail or an instant messaging service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">J. C. Hall (businessman)</span> Founder of Hallmark Cards (1891–1982)

Joyce Clyde Hall, better known as J. C. Hall, was an American businessman and the founder of Hallmark Cards.

American Greetings Corporation is a privately held American company and is the world's second largest greeting card producer behind Hallmark Cards. Based in Westlake, Ohio, a suburb of Cleveland, the company sells paper greeting cards, electronic greeting cards, gift packaging, stickers and party products. In addition, the company owns the Carlton Cards, Tender Thoughts, Papyrus, Recycled Paper Greetings and Gibson brands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Greeting card</span> Piece of card with a picture and a message

A greeting card is a piece of card stock, usually with an illustration or photo, made of high quality paper featuring an expression of friendship or other sentiment. Although greeting cards are usually given on special occasions such as birthdays, Christmas or other holidays, such as Halloween, they are also sent to convey thanks or express other feelings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Christmas ornament</span> Decoration typically placed on a Christmas tree

Christmas ornaments, baubles, globes, "Christmas bulbs", or "Christmas bubbles" are decoration items, usually to decorate Christmas trees. These decorations may be woven, blown, molded, carved from wood or expanded polystyrene, or made by other techniques.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crown Center</span> Neighborhood and shopping center of Kansas City, Missouri

Crown Center is a shopping center and neighborhood located near Downtown Kansas City, Missouri between Gillham Road and Main Street to the east and west, and between OK/E 22nd St and E 27th St to the north and south. The shopping center is anchored by Halls, a department store which is owned and operated by Hallmark Cards. The neighborhood contains numerous residences, retail establishments, entertainment venues, and restaurants including the American Restaurant, the only Forbes Travel Guide four-star restaurant in Missouri. It is home to Hallmark Cards, and the headquarters of Shook, Hardy & Bacon and Lathrop GPM, two of Kansas City's largest law firms.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Economy of Kansas City</span>

The economy of the Kansas City metropolitan area is anchored by Kansas City, Missouri, which is the largest city in the state and the 37th largest in the United States. The Kansas City metropolitan area is the 27th largest in the United States, based on the United States Census Bureau's 2004 population estimates. The metro's economy is large and influential to its region.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gift wrapping</span> Surrounding a gift with material to conceal it

Gift wrapping is the act of enclosing a gift in some sort of material. Wrapping paper is a kind of paper designed for gift wrapping. An alternative to gift wrapping is using a gift box or bag. A wrapped or boxed gift may be held closed with ribbon and topped with a decorative bow.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hallmark Business Connections</span>

Hallmark Business Connections, formerly Hallmark Business Expressions is a subsidiary of Hallmark Cards, headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri. Hallmark Business Connections targets businesses who use greeting cards. The company specializes in creating custom business greeting cards.

Donald Joyce Hall Jr., is the executive chairman of Hallmark Cards.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halls (department store)</span> Luxury department store in Kansas City

Halls is the department store division of Kansas City, Missouri-based Hallmark Cards, consisting of a specialty department store located in downtown Kansas City in the city's Crown Center commercial complex district. The store carries a variety of premium-branded items in apparel, cosmetics, jewelry, shoes, and other product categories, in addition to greeting cards and gift items carrying the Hallmark brand. Halls is positioned at a price level comparable to larger luxury-oriented chains including Bloomingdale's and Neiman Marcus.

Hallmark+ is subscription video on-demand service owned by Hallmark Media. It primarily carries family-friendly movies, documentaries and short films, including Hallmark Hall of Fame movies and original content tied to Hallmark's cable networks.

Schurman Retail Group is an American stationery, greeting card, gifts, and paper products company based in Fairfield, California. The company operates brands and retail stores under the names Papyrus, NIQUEA.D, and Paper Destiny. It also sells the American Greetings brand and manages its subsidiaries, including Carlton Cards. Schurman Retail Group has over 450 retail stores across the United States and Canada It is currently the second-largest American specialty retailer in the greeting card industry.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Papyrus (company)</span> American stationery and greeting card retailer

Papyrus is a brand name originated by a former American stationery and greeting card retailer that at one time operated over 450 stores throughout the United States and Canada. It was headquartered in Goodlettsville, Tennessee, and was the flagship brand of the Schurman Retail Group. The company sold a variety of products, including greeting cards, stationery, gift wrap, specialty gifts, jewelry, customized invitations, and other paper products. It was one of the largest greeting card retailers in the United States. The Papyrus products rights are owned by American Greetings.

The Rust Craft Greeting Card Company was an American greeting card and printing company and owner of television stations.

Clara Johnson Scroggins was a collector and author on the subject of Christmas ornaments, and was considered an expert in the field as well.

The Paper Store is an American retail company based in Acton, Massachusetts, that owns and operates approximately 100 specialty gift stores across the northeast and Florida. The company is a family business that offers "on-trend" products catering to a predominantly female demographic, with a selection that includes apparel & accessories, jewelry, bath & body products, stationery, baby & toddler gifts, kids' toys, jigsaw puzzles, books, and Hallmark Cards greeting cards. The Paper Store is currently the largest interdependently-owned group of Hallmark Gold Crown stores in The United States. Other highly recognizable brands featured in their stores include Alex and Ani, Vera Bradley, Lilly Pulitzer, Kate Spade, Life Is Good, Vineyard Vines, Pura Vida, Hydro Flask, and Ivory Ella.

References

  1. 1 2 "Hallmark Corporate Information | Hallmark Facts". corporate.hallmark.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2008. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  2. ↑ "America's Largest Private Companies: No. 110 Hallmark Cards". Forbes. Retrieved November 24, 2020.
  3. ↑ "About Hallmark". corporate.hallmark.com. Retrieved February 8, 2023.
  4. ↑ "Lifetime Honors: National Medal of Arts". National Endowment for the Arts. Archived from the original on May 6, 2009.
  5. ↑ Puschendorf, L. Robert (2008). "The Halls of Hallmark: The Nebraska Years" (PDF). Nebraska History. Nebraska State Historical Society: 6–10. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  6. ↑ Garber, Megan (December 22, 2012). "Wrappers' Delight: A Brief History of Wrapping Paper". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  7. 1 2 "Early Innovation 1910s–30s". Hallmark Corporate. Archived from the original on September 30, 2011. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  8. ↑ "Brand Legacy". Hallmark Corporate. Archived from the original on October 19, 2011.
  9. ↑ "Hallmark Hall of Fame". Hallmark Corporate. Archived from the original on September 13, 2011.
  10. ↑ "Joyce C. Hall". Encyclopædia Britannica. April 27, 2017. Retrieved June 12, 2017. the 'Hallmark' brand name, introduced in 1923, did not become part of the company's name until 1954
  11. ↑ Andersen, Erin (21 December 1998). "Lincoln Journal Star at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  12. ↑ Andersen, Erin (21 December 1998). "Lincoln Journal Star at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. No. 17. Retrieved 15 September 2018.
  13. ↑ Peterson, John (2007). Hallmark keepsake ornaments: inside stories from the artists who created them . Hallmark Books. p.  132. ISBN   9781595301635.
  14. ↑ Lignitz, Amy (15 December 1994). "Decorating the Christmas Tree is Big Business". The Los Angeles Times. p. 10.
  15. ↑ "Valentine's Co. Ltd. (Valentine & Sons)". Metropostcard.com. Metro Postcard Club. Archived from the original on November 12, 2017. Retrieved January 24, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Hallmark Greeting 75th Birthday with Big Plans for Future". The Atlanta Journal . 1985-01-06. p. 2K. Retrieved 2024-10-16– via Newspapers.com. Open Access logo PLoS transparent.svg
  17. ↑ "Hallmark Cards agrees to buy British competitor". Southeast Missourian . Associated Press. July 10, 1998.
  18. ↑ "Hallmark buys firm". Victoria Advocate . September 11, 1998.
  19. ↑ "The Paper Store". Retail Merchandiser. June 2, 2014. Retrieved June 3, 2019.
  20. ↑ "Hallmark's new president and CEO not member of Hall family". KCTV Kansas City. Associated Press. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  21. ↑ "Hallmark names new CEO from outside the Hall family". Bizjournals.com. Retrieved 2019-06-29.
  22. ↑ "Microsoft and Hallmark Connections Team Up to Offer Microsoft Greetings Workshop" (Press release). Microsoft. September 11, 1996. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
  23. ↑ "Official site". Hallmark Visitors Center. Retrieved November 15, 2015.
  24. ↑ "626 Marketing I". Alvirne High School . Archived from the original on June 28, 2013.
  25. ↑ "Bernama TV looking for buyer". The Edge Malaysia. August 19, 2009. Retrieved April 5, 2024.
  26. ↑ Carol Krol (October 16, 2006). "Marketers find opportunities for better targeting ROI". btobonline.com. Archived from the original on July 8, 2011. Retrieved October 1, 2010.
  27. ↑ Shattuck, Kathryn (February 18, 2006). "For a Dear Museum: Love, Hallmark". The New York Times. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
  28. ↑ "Maxine; The Birth of the Ageist Birthday Card". November 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2021.
  29. ↑ "Maxine's Christmas Carol". IMDb . Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  30. ↑ Yalong, Bobby T. (November 21, 2014). "Jose Mari Chan juggles between his music and business enterprise". Asian Journal. Retrieved June 12, 2017.
  31. ↑ Ferguson, Tom; Koranteng, Julianna (January 15, 2005). "The Gift of Music". Billboard Magazine.
  32. ↑ "Facts about Hallmark's Major Subsidiaries". Hallmark Corporate. Archived from the original on October 13, 2007.
  33. ↑ Hansen, James R. (2005). First Man: The Life of Neil A. Armstrong . Simon & Schuster. p. 628. ISBN   0-7432-5751-0.
  34. ↑ "Paris Hilton Sues Over Hallmark Card". The Smoking Gun. September 7, 2007. Retrieved December 12, 2008.
  35. ↑ "Hallmark settles with Paris Hilton". The Boston Globe. Associated Press. September 29, 2010. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  36. ↑ "Court sides with Paris Hilton in Hallmark fight". Today . The Associated Press. August 31, 2009. Retrieved November 17, 2021.
  37. ↑ Carter, T.; Juliet Lushbough Dee; Harvey L. Zuckman (2014) [1983]. Mass Communication Law in a Nutshell (7th ed.). St. Paul, Minnesota: West Publishing Co. ISBN   978-0-314-28063-3 . Retrieved February 9, 2017.
  38. ↑ "Hallmark Australia | Premium Birthday Cards, Greeting Cards & Gifts". Hallmark.com.au. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  39. ↑ "Les plus belles cartes et cadeaux pour chaque moment envoyer une carte". Fr.hallmark.be. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  40. ↑ "Greeting Cards, Christmas Ornaments, and Gifts". Hallmark.ca. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  41. ↑ "Online Grußkarten, Glückwunschkarten und Kostenlose E-cards". Hallmark.de. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  42. ↑ "Kaarten bloemen & cadeaus". Hallmark.nl. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  43. ↑ "Hallmark | Perfect Cards Made Easy". Hallmark.co.uk. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
  44. ↑ "Hallmark Gold Crown Store". Hallmark.jp. Retrieved 26 June 2022.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.