Thanksgiving
Always observed the fourth Thursday in November
Facts
- Industry-wide, Americans exchange about 13 million Thanksgiving cards each year.
- More than 70 percent of Thanksgiving cards are mailed, the highest percentage for any season.
- About 63 percent of Thanksgiving cards are given to family (close and extended) and about 23 percent of Thanksgiving cards are given to friends.
- Increasingly, companies are sending Thanksgiving cards to business clients and prospects as a way to thank them and extend early holiday greetings not tied to specific religious or cultural observances, according to Hallmark research.
- Hallmark made its first Thanksgiving cards in the early 1920s.
2012 Product Features
- Hallmark offers nearly 290 Thanksgiving cards, including:
- Simply Thankful: Collection features fresh Thanksgiving and fall photography paired with simply stated sentiments.
- Big Thanksgiving Wishes: These cards have all of the perks. They can be displayed throughout the season; each card features a character on both sides of the card and an easel for standing and hook for hanging. Oversized die-cut characters, including Snoopy and Thanksgiving's most iconic bird.
- Cello Packs: Provides convenient solution for multiples-sending.
- The Reason for This Season: Cards by Dayspring for Hallmark capture the essence and true meaning of the season. The line feature religious imagery and beautifully-touching editorial.
- Postage-Paid Greetings, which already include postage, will be available in many different designs. Just sign, seal and send. The postage is treated like a Forever stamp, and its value will always be equal to the price of a standard First-Class stamp, regardless of when it's mailed.
- Card prices begin at 99 cents.
- Cards are available for family relationships including parents, children, siblings, grandparents, great grandparents, grandchildren, great grandchildren, aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews. The line also includes godson, goddaughter, religious cards for mom and dad, and even more cards for family relationships
- A wide variety of cards are appropriate for sending "across the miles" for families and friends who won't be together on Thanksgiving.
- Hallmark.com also provides a selection of e-cards, as well as paper cards that can be customized on Hallmark.com with personal messages and photos, then addressed, stamped and mailed directly to the recipient.
- A Thanksgiving-themed Hallmark Keepsake Ornament is available this year: "A Thanksgiving Feast." Bring together a collection of your dearest PEANUTS® companions for this unusual meal with Snoopy and Woodstock. Toast and jellybeans might not seem too appetizing together, but take a chance this year to create a new tradition with your own spin on the standard feast.
- Clean-up after any Thanksgiving or any fall gathering is easy with Hallmark paper partyware featuring fall-inspired flowers and leaves. Personalized partyware with family photos creates a unique way to celebrate.
- For football fans following their favorite teams on Turkey Day, Hallmark NFL party designs get the gang into the spirit with minimal mess.
Holiday History
The tradition of celebrating thanks dates back nearly 400 years to a three-day harvest festival celebrated in 1621 by the pilgrims and Native Americans at Plymouth, Mass.
President George Washington issued the first national Thanksgiving proclamation in 1789, the year of his inauguration, and again in 1795. On Oct. 3, 1863, President Abraham Lincoln declared a national day of Thanksgiving to be observed on the last Thursday in November, and every president after Lincoln followed suit. In 1941, a joint congressional resolution officially set the date as the fourth Thursday in November.
The Hallmark Archives contain Thanksgiving cards that date back to the late 1800s, but Thanksgiving cards were not widely exchanged until the end of World War I.
In Stores
Available at Hallmark Gold Crown® stores nationwide and wherever Hallmark cards are sold. Use the store locator on Hallmark.com to find the nearest Hallmark Gold Crown store.