Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation

MORE THAN MERE DECORATION

Much-anticipated Hallmark exhibition is now open in museum

BEFORE KEEPSAKE ORNAMENTS CAME

along in the 1970s, people connected the name Hallmark with sentimental greeting cards.

Indeed, Hallmark greeting cards have a long history. At a young age, J.C. Hall — Hallmark’s entrepreneurial founder — started a postcard company in his hometown of David City, Nebraska. But opportunities were limited there. In 1920, when Hall was only 19 years old, he crammed two shoeboxes full of postcards and boarded a train for Kansas City, Missouri, where he and his brother opened a stationery store. When a fire wiped out the store’s inventory, the brothers bought an engraving firm — setting the stage for the first Hallmark card designs.

Over time, Hallmark also designed and produced distinctive gift wrap, ribbons and party goods. In 1944, the company adopted one of the most recognized slogans in advertising: “When You Care Enough to Send the Very Best.”

In 1973, Hallmark Cards Inc. — now led by J.C.’s son, Donald J. Hall — introduced a line of Keepsake ornaments. The first ones looked essentially like greeting cards on traditional ball-shaped ornaments. But over time, figural ornaments — that is, ornaments sculpted into three-dimensional shapes — became much more popular.

Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation’s new permanent exhibition, Miniature Moments: A Journey Through Hallmark® Keepsake Ornaments, 1973-2009, features nearly 7,000 ornaments produced by Hallmark Cards during those years. It opened to the public in November 2022. Most of the ornaments in the exhibition were designed to decorate Christmas trees, but their purpose and meaning go well beyond mere decoration. They can reinforce personal identity, connect people with one another and reflect trends in our larger world.

— DONNA BRADEN, SENIOR CURATOR AND CURATOR

OF PUBLIC LIFE

ONLINE For more information, hours and pricing for Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, visit thf.org/museumc WATCH Learn more about the Miniature Moments: A Journey Through Hallmark Ornaments, 1973-2009 exhibitionc

AT A GLANCE

The ornaments in Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation’s new Miniature Moments: A Journey Through Hallmark® Keepsake Ornaments, 1973-2009 exhibition are arranged by year, starting in 1973. In addition, each case features a selection of ornaments representing different themes that span the entire time period. These themes range from traditional symbols of the season and personal and family milestones to special hobbies and interests.

There are also displays of Keepsake ornament miniatures and ornaments designed for holidays other than Christmas.

DID YOU KNOW? / The Henry Ford’s Hallmark Keepsake ornament collection was originally displayed at a Hallmark Gold Crown store called The Party Shop in Warsaw, Indiana. The 12,000-square-foot independently owned and operated location belonged to the Snyder/Hamrick family. David Hamrick, who amassed the thousands of ornaments, stopped collecting in 2009 — realizing there were just too many to keep up with (almost 400 different designs a year compared with 18 in 1973). Plus, his family needed the space for their retail operation.

bThe Henry Ford’s new Miniature

Moments: A Journey Through

Hallmark® Keepsake Ornaments, 1973-2009 exhibition opened in

Henry Ford Museum of American

Innovation last fall. The physical display is complemented by a digital presence. See curatorial

selections of the ornaments in these expert sets.

PHOTO BY VANSON PHOTOGRAPHY