Tweet

Leaving His Mark: Hall’s Company Takes Off

Article Overview: Hall’s postcard company was doing well, but he quickly began to worry about his future. Could sales keep indefinitely? No, he decided. It was time for a change.

Leaving His Mark: Hall’s Company Takes Off

Hall’s postcard company was doing well, but he quickly began to worry about his future. Could sales keep indefinitely? No, he decided. It was time for a change.

Hall’s first order of business was to alter the company’s name to Hallmark, a play on his name as well as a synonym for quality in the 1300s, when gold and silver were “marked” for quality at Goldsmith’s Hall in London. If an item was up to standard, it would receive a “Hall Mark.”

In 1912, Hall decided to branch out and add greeting cards to his company’s shelves. But just as business began taking off, Hall encountered one of the biggest setbacks of his professional career. In 1915, a fire destroyed the entire of Hall’s store, along with his entire inventory.

Hall was devastated but refused to give up. He found the money to purchase a new engraving press, and opened up another office just down the street from where his last one had been burnt down. There, Hall and his brothers began printing their own greeting cards, this time each with their own Hallmark insignia.

In 1916, just one year after his business had been destroyed by fire, Hall launched his first Hallmark greeting card. It read, “I'd like to be the kind of friend you are to me.”
The company continued to grow over the years, and by 1923 the Hall brothers had over 120 employees working for them. They were no longer crowded in a tiny office, but rather spread out in four separate buildings in a newly built six-story plant.

Around the same time, Hall introduced a new innovation to the industry. Instead of having greeting cards stacked at the back of a store and having a clerk choose one they felt was appropriate for the customer, Hall placed his cards on display cases, allowing customers to wander through rows of cards and select their own.

During the Great Depression, Hall’s company continued to thrive, even managing to not lay off a single worker. After World War II, Hallmark officially adopted its well known logo, a five-pointed crown. Soon thereafter, Hall began introducing greeting cards that featured works by such artists as Leonardo da Vinci, Rembrandt, and even Winston Churchill. This was followed by the Ambassador brand of cards, Hall’s answer to serving large, mass marketing stores.

In the early 1950s, Hall began sponsoring the Hallmark Hall of Fame, a television show that showcased some of the world’s greatest performers from around the world, and brought his brand to a wider audience. With his greeting cards a roaring success, Hall launched a new line of products, including albums, candles, gifts, party favours, stationery, and more.

By the time Hall died in 1982, he was 91 years old and his company was worth some $1.5 billion. Over 14,000 designs were being printed per year by 450 artists. Today, more than ten million Hallmark cards are sold around the world each year.

Related Articles
  Use Examples to Encourage
  Hut 8, Hut 9, Hut 15!
  Sales Management Requires a Different Mindset Than Sales
  Specimens Not Just for Guys in White Coats Anymore
  "What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork."

Article Tags: 1300s, choose one, display cases, engraving, fire hall, gold and silver, great depression, greeting cards, hallmark greeting card, halls store, innovation, insignia, order of business, postcard company, professional career, setbacks, shelves, synonym, tiny office, world war ii



Related Forum Posts
Hi all from Australia!! - Hi all, My name is Mark. I've been involved in the direct selling industry for the last 10 years since I was introduced to amway way back then, in one or another venture.. I'm here to mix and mingle with other people like myself, like minded entrepreneurs if you will and contribute a little from what knowledge I do have about marketing. I look forward to chatting with everyone out there. Regards, Mark
Re: What I'm reading this weekend - Feb 11, 2011 - I won't be around this weekend. Leaving out of town in a few minutes. But I will certainly catch up on the list Monday.
How to valuate a business - Hi Garth - here is how we did it at Northern Crown Capital when I was helping them raise venture capital for Toronto-based entrepreneurs. Assume the start date is 2003 so 2008 projections are 5 years out: How Northern Crown Capital Valuates a Business 2008 Financial Projections Earnings Before Tax $5,865,000 Tax Rate 42% Taxes $2,463,300 Net Earnings $3,401,700 Amount Seeking to Raise Today $3,500,000 Discounted Value of Future Opportunity, 5 Years Out 2008 P/E Ratio 15 Value of Company in 2008 $51,025,500 Discount Rate Applied 30% Year 2008 $51,025,500 Year 2007 $35,717,850 Year 2006 $25,002,495 Year 2005 $17,501,747 Year 2004 $12,251,223 Value of Company at Investment in 2003 $12,251,223 Less: Investment Amount $3,500,000 Present Value $8,751,223 Discount for Risk & Private Company 40% Less: Discount for Risk & Private Company $3,500,489 Private Company Value $5,250,734 Present Value (What the Owner Keeps) $5,250,734 60.00% Financing (What the Investor Gets) $3,500,000 40.00% Total $8,750,734 100.00% I hope this helps!
Building credit - Credit is like reputations, I suppose. Takes a lifetime to build, and only a second to destroy.
Re: Information vs. Spam: A dilemma - Hi GT I definitely agree with Trent that this is spam. If he wants to post these articles he should be doing it in article directories and not in forums, that is not the purpose of a forum. Leaving the same article in forums all over the place is proof enough that he is spamming. MichelleJ


Share this article with your friends. Fund someone's dream.

Leave a comment below or share on the left and you'll help support entrepreneurs in Africa through our partnership with Kiva. Over $50,000 raised and counting - Please keep sharing! Learn more.

Tweet

Newsletter

Get advice & tips from famous business
owners, new articles by entrepreneur
experts, my latest website updates, &
special sneak peaks at what's to come!

Name:
Email:

Popular Articles

How To Be A Management Legend

Download a template or see a lawyer?

How To Become A Member of the Paparazzi

Suggestions

Email us your ideas on how to make our
website more valuable! Thank you Sharon
from Toronto Salsa Lessons / Classes for
your suggestions to make the newsletter
look like the website and profile younger
entrepreneurs like Jennifer Lopez.