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produce their own line of greeting cards that could be sold to other
stores, as well. “Good taste is good business,” J.C. liked to say.
What J.C. saw that others may have missed when it came to sending
greeting cards – commercially produced cards offered “a way of giving
less articulate people, and those who tend to disguise their feelings, a
voice to express their love and affection.”
As greetings cards surpassed postcards as a way to send a greeting,
Hall also recognized the public’s desire for more privacy in their
communications and began offering high-quality Valentines and
Christmas cards mailed in envelopes.

Expanding the Company

Armed with the success of the Hall Brothers Greeting Cards, J.C.
and his brothers continued to innovate. Their first foray into other
product lines came in 1917 when the Hall brothers “invented” modern
gift wrap. During the peak Christmas season, the Hall Brothers ran out
of solid-colored “gift dressing” and improvised by selling fancy decorated
French envelope linings. Those sold out so quickly that the brothers
decided to also print their own gift wrap.
With business booming, their other brother, William Hall, who had
After establishing a “good little business” in Norfolk, NE, J.C. Hall moved to
Kansas City, MO to begin a business that would later become Hallmark Cards, Inc. stayed in Norfolk to run the bookstore, joined J.C. and Rollie in Kansas
in 1910 at the age of 18. Hall was enrolled in Spalding’s Commercial College and City in 1921, and in 1923, the three brothers formed Hall Brothers,
his room at the YMCA was his first “headquarters” for his initial business idea of Inc., the predecessor of today’s Hallmark. By then the company was
selling bulk postcards by mail order. His beginning inventory was stored under his employing 120 people, including salespeople in all 48 states, leading to
bed. Facing complaints from the YMCA regarding the number of packages he a nationwide expansion of their brand and business.
was receiving, Hall rented a storage space. That fall, he did not return to school “Mr. J.C.” was Hallmark Cards for 56 years. Until 1966, when he
but continued his business venture. stepped aside as chief executive officer in favor of his son, Donald J.
Hall, no Hallmark greeting card reached the marketplace without his
‘‘All I was trying to do was make a living,’’ he famously said. ‘‘In “O.K.J.C.” imprimatur.
those days, if you didn’t work, you didn’t eat. And I liked to eat.’’ J.C. Hall passed away in 1982 at the age of 91. Among the
As business picked up, he ventured to the towns served by the rail- thousands of card messages that he approved his personal favorite was
roads running in all directions from the Midwestern rail center. Later, one written by Edgar Guest: ‘‘I’d like to be the kind of a friend you’ve
Hall and his brother Rollie opened a specialty store in downtown been to me.’’
Kansas City, dealing in postcards, gifts, books, and stationery. Today, Hallmark Cards, Inc. is the world’s largest greeting card
On January 11, 1915—five years and a day after Hall’s arrival in company, creating 21,000 different designs each year in more than 20
Kansas City—his entire inventory was wiped out by a fire, including languages, and distributing them in more than 100 countries.
unfulfilled Valentine card orders and miscellaneous giftware, leaving
the brothers $17,000 in debt. Building back better, the brothers The Hallmark of Branding
floated a loan and bought the engraving presses of the Smith-Pierce
Engraving Company. J.C. Hall also was an innovator in marketing who understood
Carefully considering the products he had been selling, Hall was the importance of brand-building. He was intrigued by the word
unhappy with the lack of appeal of the cards – the art was inferior and “hallmark” as used by goldsmiths as their identifying mark of quality.
the messages were not meaningful. By owning their own small engraving Hall liked that the term not only said “quality,” but also featured his
shop, the Hall brothers could control the quality and the messages, and family name. The Hallmark brand name appeared on the company’s

Left: 1957 advertisement for Hallmark Gift Wraps.
Center: 1960s Hallmark marketing information for retailers.
Right: 1965 Advertisement for Hallmark Party Books.
34 Journal of Antiques and Collectibles