Hallmark Cards
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hallmark Cards, a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri, is the largest manufacturer of greeting cards in the United States. Approximately 50% of greeting cards sent in the United States every year are manufactured by Hallmark.
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[edit] Background
Founded in 1910 by 18-year-old Joyce Clyde Hall selling postcards, by 1915 the company was known as Hall Brothers and sold Valentine's Day and Christmas cards. In 1917, Hall and his brother Rollie invented modern wrapping paper when they ran out of traditional colored tissue paper.
In 1928, the company adopted the 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 and promoting it in ad campaigns, a practice the company continues to the present day. In 1931, the Canadian William E. Coutts Company, Ltd., a major card maker, became an affiliate of Hall Brothers, which was Hall Brothers' first international business venture. In 1944, it adopted its current slogan, "When you care enough to send the very best." It was created by a salesman at a meeting. The cocktail napkin on which it was originally handwritten 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 78 Emmy Awards. In 1954, the company name was changed from Hall Brothers to Hallmark. In 1958, William E. Coutts Company, Ltd. was acquired by Hallmark; until the 1990s, Hallmark's Canadian branch was known as "Coutts Hallmark".
[edit] Employees
Worldwide, Hallmark has more than 18,000 full-time employees. About 4,500 Hallmarkers work at the Kansas City headquarters and about 9,900 are associated full-time with the U.S. personal expression business.
[edit] Management
The current chairman is Donald J. Hall, Sr., and the current president and CEO is his son, Donald J. Hall, Jr.
[edit] Creative resources
Hallmark's creative staff consists of around 800 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 in its model line at any one time.
[edit] Products and services
Hallmark offers or has offered the following products and services:
Greeting Cards
- Shoebox (a tiny little division of Hallmark) [1]
- Maxine [2]
- Hoops & Yoyo [3]
- Revilo [4]
- Forever Friends [5]
- Tippi Town Bears [6]
- Microsoft Greetings 2000 (A software product that allowed you to create Hallmark card at home.)
- Create your own cards. [7]
Collectible Ornaments
- Keepsake Ornaments [8]
Gift Product
- Hallmark Flowers [9]
Publications
- Hallmark Magazine [10]
[edit] Subsidiaries
Hallmark owns Hallmark Entertainment, a producer of television shows and mini-series; the Hallmark Channel television network; Binney & Smith, makers of Crayola-brand crayons; and operates a chain of independently-owned card and gift stores in the United States and Canada. Hallmark also owned Spanish-language broadcaster Univision from 1986 to 1992. The company also ran a record company issuing compilation albums by a number of popular artists. It also runs Halls, an upscale department store at the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City.
[edit] Hallmark photographic collection
The Hallmark Photographic Collection was donated to the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Missouri.
