Halls of Fame

In 1910, Hallmark Cards founder Joyce Hall was selling postcards out of a couple of shoeboxes. His brother Rollie soon joined him, followed a few years later by their brother William.

In 1915, fire at their Kansas City, Missouri, store prompted the Halls to buy printing presses to make their own cards rather than import them from German printers, who dominated the market at the time.

The same year, the Hall brothers printed the world’s first 4-by6-inch folded Christmas card for mailing in an envelope.

The first Hallmark Hall of Fame TV special, Amahl and the Night Visitors, ran live on NBC on Christmas Eve 1951.

In 1960, Hallmark published Christmas cards designed by avant-garde artist Salvador Dali. But Dali’s sketchy figures and bold splashes of color didn’t appeal to holiday shoppers; Hallmark pulled the cards after a few weeks.

In 1963, Jacqueline Kennedy designed two Christmas cards for Hallmark to benefit what would become the Kennedy Center.

A 1977 Hallmark design known as Three Little Angels, of praying cherubs, one with her halo askew, is the most popular Christmas card in history. It’s been sent more than 36 million times—and counting—since its introduction.