Maker - Hallmark, Hall Brothers

Valentine Greetings to You ~ You're sure as nice can be, And mighty nice to know, And you're Somebody's Valentine! This little birdie told me so!

4" x 5 3/4" (5 3/4" x 7 7/8 opened)
dated 1940
Flat
Made in USA
by Hallmark
Hall Brothers Inc

Hallmark officially began as an endeavor by Joyce Clyde Hall in 1910 upon his arrival in Kansas City, Missouri. The company's roots lie, however, in Norfolk, Nebraska. It was there that Joyce's brothers, Rollie and William, purchased the Norfolk Post Card Company, a bookstore, in 1891. By 1894, they had moved into the wholesaling of postcards.

When Joyce arrived in Kansas City he came with a box full of postcards and his own plan to delve into the wholesaling of those cards. Was it a fit of sibling rivalry that sent Joyce almost 300 miles away to form his own start-up in competition with his brothers? Or maybe Joyce saw great possible benefit in the move to Missouri where his brothers did not? Whatever the motivations, the move and resulting new business proved to be a tremendous success that the brothers would all come to share in and contribute to. 

For a SWEET LITTLE NIECE on Valentine's Day.

6 1/4" x 7 5/8"
circa 1950s 
Flat with Easel Stand
 by Hallmark
marked: 25v 629-1
 with bow detail

From a room at the YMCA, Joyce mailed out batches of 100 cards to various stationers and booksellers. For his efforts, some kept the cards, making no payment; others mailed them back with strongly worded missives. Just enough, however, opted to keep the cards and mail a check. From there, Joyce built up sales until the volume of mail to that YMCA room prompted him to rent out office space. The company was up and running strong very quickly.

After his brother Rollie joined him in Kansas City in 1911, they began operating as Hall Brothers. William would join Joyce and Rollie in the 1920s. Initially, they sold items printed by other printers. After losing their entire inventory in a January 1915 fire, they decided to start anew, but this time printing their own cards. By Christmas they were up and going again. These new cards would now all be marked on the back with the Hall Brothers' name. This was a time when postcards were beginning to decline in popularity and the Hall brothers thought they would find a market for cards that were mailed in an envelope - offering a bit more privacy than a postcard. This proved to be very true and quite a success for the brothers who were now printing and selling cards for Valentine's Day and Christmas. Another of their innovations was commercially made gift wrap debuting in 1917. Like Gibson, the Hall Brothers also excelled at sales innovations and merchandising.

A Valentine for You Here's a little Valentine That I just went an' got -- Specially on accounts 'cause ~ I like you such a lot!

4 1/8" x 5 3/8" (5 3/8" x 8 3/8" opened)
dated 1946
French Fold
made by Hall Bros
marked: Hallmark Rufftex
15 V106-6

By 1922 the company had grown to more than 100 people and they were producing cards for a dizzying array of holidays, events, and occasions. In 1928 they began using Hallmark in addition to the company name, Hall Brothers. Joyce (known as J.C.) was said to have liked its reference to the guarantee of quality it indicates on precious metals.

Stop! And be my Valentine!

2 1/4" x 3 1/4"
circa 1960s
Flat
by Hallmark
made in USA

1932 brought a deal with Walt Disney that continues today. While I have seen several Disney licensed cards from the 1930s, I have not seen any from that time that also include a Hall Brothers or Hallmark logo. If anyone, dear readers, has any such cards we'd be very curious to see scans of them (please leave a comment if you are so lucky and willing to share). 

Similar deals with other artists were made. Norman Rockwell and Grandma Moses are among those whose work adorns Hallmark greeting cards. 

In 1939, Hallmark created what would come to be one of the all-time most popular greeting cards - their 'pansy' Mother's Day card. The front reads: To let you know I'm thinking of you. The message that follows inside: Pansies always stand for thoughts - at least that's what folks say. So this just comes to show my thoughts are there with you today. The front of the card features an image by Dorothy Maienschein which was also used in a 'love' stamp issued by the USPS in 2010. The card is die-cut and features purple pansies in a wheelbarrow-shaped planter. Hallmark quickly recognized its potential and reissued the card as a 'friendship' card in 1941. The card remains available today and has sold 30 million copies.

Andrew Szoeke designed the now familiar Hallmark 'crown' logo (featuring a crown above the Hallmark name) in 1949. Still, the official change in name from Hall Brothers to Hallmark was not until 1954. This means there are many cards marked with both names and some from that narrow 5-year window with both Hall Brothers and the 'crown' logo version of Hallmark. 

Like the crown logo, Hallmark's tag line - when you care to send the very best -  has a long history with the company. It first appeared in 1944, written by Ed Goodman, and endures to this day. It is a clever line in its simplicity, that keeps it from sounding outdated despite its advanced age.

Hi! Happy Valentine's Day.

2 3/4" x 3 3/4"
circa 1960s
Flat
Ambassador Cards
by Hallmark

Ambassador Cards was launched by Hallmark in 1959. It was a widely advertised line with great volumes of each item produced. The Shoebox line and its popular character Maxine were added in 1986. Hallmark continues on today, having branched out well beyond their initial Kansas City greeting card business to have interests in many areas. They employ thousands of people with about 4,500 of those still located in Kansas City, Mo.

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Sources: 

Hallmark Corporate History; Hallmark History and Timeline, Hallmark Website

The Romance of Greeting Cards, Ernest Dudley Chase (revised edition of 1956)  
Valentine Treasury - A Century of Valentine Cards, by Robert Brenner
The Encyclopedia of Greeting Card Tools and Techniques, Susan Pickering Rothamel

Maker - Gibson Art Company, Gibson Greeting Cards

To My Valentine ~ These flowers will brightly Bloom for Thee And birdie's sing In every tree If you will be My Pansy Sweet Valentine.

2 7/8" x 5 3/4" (5 3/4" x 5 5/8" opened)
circa 1890s, 1900s
Single Fold
marked: The Gibson Art Company
Made in Germany

Gibson begun as 'Gibson and Co' in 1850 in Cincinnati, Ohio. The company was started by a group of 4 brothers: Stephen, Robert, George and Samuel Gibson. They began as printers of stocks, stationary, bonds, etc on a French-made lithographic press. In the 1860s and 1870s they expanded to include the marketing of items made by others, such as the Currier and Ives chromolithographic prints that were very popular at the time. It was via this relationship with other printers that Gibson gets some credit for the first line of American mass produced Christmas cards. The cards were in fact the work of Boston-based printer Louis Prang. It may have been their great success at selling Prang's cards combined with Prang's retirement in the 1890s that inspired them to begin printing their own.

To My Valentine ~ I ain't good looking but, I iss cute, vot?

4" x 2 1/2"
circa 1890s, 1900s
Flat
by Bernhardt Wall 
for Gibson and Co/Gibson Art Co

Most sources put it around around 1908 or 1909 that Gibson begun working with artists and writers to create their own greeting cards (although our Bernhardt Wall card seen above carries an older version of their logo suggesting the association may possibly have begun earlier). Interestingly, I have found several sources around the internet that give this same time period, around 1908, as the founding of the Gibson company, which is incorrect.  The company was then almost 60 years old.

By the time of this change, Robert, who had become the sole owner after buying out his brothers in 1883, had passed on. His will directed that the company be incorporated as 'Gibson Art Company' and split into equal shares for his children. However, while he died in 1885, the incorporation with the name change did not happen until 1895. The company could possibly have been using 'Gibson Art Co' on their cards during that decade between Robert's death and incorporation, or could have been using the original 'Gibson and Co.' Or perhaps the G. A. Co logo (see above) was used during this time? This is unclear. I have not come across enough Gibson cards of this period to help elucidate this question. I would love to hear from any Gibson collectors who have any input on this somewhat confusing era of the company history and how cards were marked during that time.

A Valentine for You ~St. Valentine's greetings with Best Wishes.

2 5/8" x 3 1/2" (3 1/2" x 5 1/4" opened)
circa 1910s, 1920s
Single Fold

for Gibson Art Co
with Gibson Lines logo

Seen above is a card taking advantage of the popularity of Rose O'Neill's Kewpie characters. Gibson sold many cards with official O'Neill Kewpies, many of them signed by her, as well as several with look a-likes such as this.

Over the years, Gibson worked with a great number of artists, some more well known than others. They expanded into gift wrap and other gift shop items and pursued licensing deals with a variety of other companies including Walt Disney Studios. Early on, they took Rose O'Neill's Kewpie characters to a wide audience, having great sales success with them. And also great sales success with cards mimicking her characters.  Some of the cards with similar characters are marked as "after Rose O'Neill" others, like the one above, do not acknowledge O'Neill's influence. O'Neill's own work for Gibson appears to usually (always?) be signed. 

Gibson popularized the French fold cards invented by Rust Craft. The company excelled at recognizing trends and streamlining sales processes, growing to become the third largest American greeting card company behind only Hallmark and American Greetings. They hold patents on certain merchandising displays and created an automatic ordering system for merchants to identify and keep the most popular cards in stock more easily. This merchandising prowess kept Gibson humming year after year.

I thought that in theft, dear You'd never take part But I have to arrest you For stealing my heart.

3 1/2" x 4 3/4"
circa 1910s, 1920s
Flat
Marked: Gibsons
No. 3037

In 1960, the company altered its name once again, now becoming 'Gibson Greeting Cards, Inc.' They then moved on to 'Gibson Greetings, Inc' in 1983 and kept that name until their purchase in 2000 by American Greetings. During the time in which they operated as Gibson Art Co (1895 - 1960), we can find other logos such as the Gibsons with number seen above. These probably provide clues to the dates of the cards, but as of yet I cannot say I have figured out the "code". Old Gibson cards with dates written on them by the customers who purchased them and the logos that appear on these dated  cards can help make this clearer. As mentioned above, If you have such a card or cards we would love to hear from you. Please leave a comment (comments are moderated - oh the spam we have seen - we've even saved our favorite spam, though not posted it, as sometimes they can be comedy gold! - but we get to comments pretty quickly so don't be discouraged by not seeing your comment post right away).

Hello, Valentine! No funny kind of poetry, No gushy, mushy verse! Gol darn it, Be My Valentine ~ You could do plenty worse!

4 5/8" x 3 1/4" (4 5/8" x 6 1/2" opened)
circa 1950s
  French Fold
 made in USA
by Gibson
 A Gibson Guy Card
 marked: 5V8510

We have many more Gibson cards in our other categories. Enter 'Gibson' in the search box in the upper left to see them all.

A Valentine to You From Me ~ Who likes you Lots? Well, you will know If you just read the name below.

2 3/4" x 5 5/8" (5 5/8" x 5 3/8" opened)
circa 1950s, 1960s
French Fold
by Gibson
made in USA 

A Valentine Hint Maybe if you were a lil' more forward.. I'd be a little less backward.

5" x 4 1/8" (5" x 7" opened)
circa 1950s 
Modified French Fold
 by Gibson
 made in USA
marked: 10V84032

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Artists Known to have Worked for Gibson:

• Bernhardt Wall
• Rose O'Neill
• Mildred Snarr Cavagnaro
• Ruth Laird Pistor
• M. Dulk
• J G Scott
• Helen Steiner Rice (poet, not a visual artist)

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Sources:

The Romance of Greeting Cards (1956 revised edition) by Ernest Dudley Chase 
Postmarked Yesteryear: Art of the Holiday Postcard by Pamela Apkarian-Russell
A Token of My Affection: Greeting Cards and American Business Culture by Barry Shank
Funding Universe.com/Gibson Greetings, Inc history