Christmas card industry earned Halls’ stamp of approval

It was a proud day on Aug. 29, 1891, for Pastor George Nelson Hall, an itinerant Methodist preacher, and his wife, Nancy Dudley Houston Hall, when their third son was born in David City, Neb. 

The baby boy arrived on the same day that Methodist Bishop Isaac W. Joyce had come to call. The couple was so touched by the presence of Bishop Joyce, they chose to name their infant in his honor. The birth certificate read: “Joyce Clyde Hall.” 

(When you’re a boy named Joyce, perhaps you develop a certain grit and determination to succeed in life and in business. He chose to be called J.C.)

 

J.C. and his older brothers, Rollie and William Hall, ran a store in Kansas City, Mo., selling postcards, gifts, books, stationery and imported Christmas and Valentine’s Day cards. 

Beginning in 1912, the Hall brothers experimented with printing their own greeting cards, stamping “Hall Brothers” on the back of each card.

 

The Entrepreneur.com website states: “Just when success seemed to be within the brothers’ grasp, disaster struck. In 1915, just a few weeks before Valentine’s Day, fire swept through the warehouse, destroying their entire inventory of Valentine’s Day cards.” 

At the time, J.C. Hall reportedly said: “Quit or think fast.” The brothers borrowed $17,000 to purchase a local engraving firm, printed their own cards and replenished their stock in time for Christmas 1915. Holiday shoppers rewarded their ingenuity, providing a much-needed influx of cash for Hall Brothers. 

“The American Christmas card industry arguably began” during that Christmas season of 1915, wrote John Hanc for Smithsonian Magazine in 2015 (in observance of the 100-year anniversary of Hallmark greeting cards). 

In 1928, J.C. Hall decided to mark the back of the company’s cards with “Hallmark,” replacing “Hall Brothers.” As he explained, “Hallmark says quality in an authoritative way…and also incorporates our family name.”

 Hallmark has a remarkable legacy of collaboration with some of the world’s most renowned artists and designers. Perhaps none of these is more beloved than American illustrator Norman Rockwell, whom Hallmark founder J.C. Hall commissioned to produce 32 paintings for the company’s greeting cards between 1948-57.

 

“Rockwell’s Christmas paintings for Hallmark helped define the spirit and traditions of the holiday season for many Americans,” wrote an art historian from Minnesota. “The heartwarming and humorous images have also come to exemplify Rockwell’s unique brand of pictorial storytelling.”

 

Hanc also noted that former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy painted two Christmas card designs for Hallmark that were released in 1963. The designs, including “Glad Tidings” and “Journey of the Magi,” were sold as a benefit for construction of a national cultural center building in Washington, D.C. (It was named the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.)

 

The most popular Hallmark Christmas card of all time, however, was published in 1977 and known as “Three Little Angels.” Hanc said: “It’s an image of three cherubic angels, two of whom are bowed in prayer. The third peers out from the card with big, baby blue eyes, her halo slightly askew.”

 

Martin Cizmar, a journalist based in Kansas City, said the card was created by Hallmark artist Ruth Morehead, with text composed by Barbara Burrow: “God bless you, love you, keep you…at Christmastime and always.” 

Cizmar said there have been many updated versions of the “Three Little Angels,” including a fresh take in 2019 for Hallmark’s Mahogany line, produced by artist Sheyda Abvabi.

 “I think what makes the card so appealing is that little mischievous angel,” Abvabi said. “We all know someone she reminds us of.”