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In 1910 eighteen year old Joyce C. Hall, a determined young man ready to take on the world, decided to venture into the greeting card mail-order business. He left his home in Norfolk, Nebraska where he and his brothers had established the Norfolk Postcard Company. But now, in a room at a Kansas City YMCA, Hall began a new venture with only two shoeboxes full of picture postcards and a scheme to distribute them. Hall started by sending sample packs of 100 postcards with invoices to dealers throughout the Midwest. A few returned them, a few kept them without paying, and some returned them with angry letters. But about one third sent payment for them, and in just a few months young Hall earned about $200.

The postcards Hall solicited were probably some of the German imports that were invading the country due to the postcard craze that hit around 1903. It didn't take long before American companies to catch on, and companies like Detroit Publishing were offering as many as 60,000 different cards. Despite this craze, Hall sensed the business potential for higher quality cards (Christmas and valentine) that could be mailed in envelopes. In 1911 his brothers, Rollie and William, joined him and Hall Brothers was founded. Their first office was located at 915 Baltimore in Kamsas City, MO.

Joyce Hall made many trips to New York and studied the styles being used in such places as Neiman-Marcus, Bullock's, Gump's, and Robinson's. He also visited candy stores and specialty shops. In 1912 the Halls added greeting cards to their line after seeing a decline in the popularity of postcards. They soon outgrew their location and had to move. They opened their new card shop in in Kansas City's Corn Bank Building in 1913. The company created 20 engraved Christmas card designs in 1913 for their exclusive use. They were also producing Valentine cards when their entire inventory was lost to fire in January of 1915.

But the Halls did not let the fire stop them. Seeing the future in greeting cards they shifted their focus from postcards to greeting cards. Hall brothers purchased a press and were now printing their own cards, including their name for the first time. Christmas greeting cards were added to the line. This came during the World War I period when German cards were being pulled from the shelves and American manufacturers were vieing to fill the empty spots with their products. By 1919 Hall introduced friendship cards to the line. It was about this time that Hall published a card with a verse submitted to them by a man claiming to have written it. The Halls liked it and had it published on an engraved card with hand painted poinsettias for Christmas. It soon became a best seller and the verse was used for other occasions. Then, in 1921, another publisher informed the Halls that they had no rights to the poem since it had previously been published in a book. He threatened a lawsuit for damages. Hall settled with the man for $500, a sum the company thought they would have a difficult time recovering. But the poem, 'A Friend's Greeting' (also known as 'My Friend') which was by Edgar Guest, remained a popular seller for many, many years.

Hall's business would eventually become the empire it is today, employing some 700 writers, artist, and technicians. Hallmark creates more than, 14,000 greeting card designs annually, which amounts to a total of 11 million cards produced daily in 20 different languages. While Raphael Tuck had the patent to publish for the British royalty, Hallmark has published official Christmas cards for every U.S. president since it introduced it's Christmas cards in 1915. It is said that LBJ set a record one year when he ordered 40,000 cards "for his few close friends."

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