In this episode of Synergy Loves Company, host Eric delves into the fascinating connections between Hallmark and Disney, exploring their parallel beginnings and shared history. Discover how both companies, with humble origins in Kansas City, rose to create expansive global legacies that bring magic and memories into millions of homes. Eric discusses Walt Disney's journey to Hollywood, JC Hall's postcard venture, the impact of their respective innovations, and their paths crossing through significant licensing deals. Learn about Hallmark's creative contributions, from inventing modern gift wrap to launching Hallmark Keepsake Ornaments, and how they're intertwined with Disney's iconic characters. Eric also unpacks how Disney and Hallmark's NBC television specials contributed to the popularization of holiday programming and set the stage for the Hallmark Channel's signature films. Dive into unique insights about the friendship between JC Hall and Walt Disney, and see how their collaborative spirit lives on in today's Disney-themed ornaments. Join us as Eric shares his personal connection through a nearly all-Disney Christmas tree and explores how Disney magic is present in our everyday celebrations.
Thanks for Enjoying Synergy Loves Company! https://www.synergylovescompany.com
Donate to the show: https://ko-fi.com/synergylovescompany
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@synergylovescompany Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/erichsynergy.bsky.social Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/synergylovescompany Instagram and Threads :https://www.instagram.com/synergylovescompany/
00:04 --> 25:00 Synergy Loves Company. We have this coterie of rich franchises, the company now that people want to engage with. I came here to try and continue what Walt Disney and his associates set in motion 50 years ago, which is to experiment with every new and innovative kind of entertainment possible. It's what we hope to do here, to really develop something that. Well, it's just more than an entertainment enterprise. It's something that contributes many other ways. Disney has the castle, but Hallmark wears the crown. These two iconic American institutions have more in common than royal imagery. From humble beginnings in Kansas City to global legacies of magic and memories, their stories are filled with resilience, innovation, and a little bit of holiday spirit. Stick around as we uncover how these two trailblazers crossed paths and changed the way we celebrate life's special moments. So let's sign this one and seal it with a gold crown, because today I'm going to deliver you the parallels and connections between Hallmark and Disney. Hey, this is Synergy Loves Company, where we explore how Disney connects to everything. Because let's face it, you don't need to be at the Disney parks to experience. Experience the magic every day. Disney is all around us. I'm Eric. And let's start off this look at Disney and Hallmark with the founders, Disney's Walt and Hallmark's JC Hall. Both Disney and Hallmark share a similar Cinderella story beginning. The story of Walt Disney's move to California to make it big in Hollywood after failing at animation in the Midwest is legendary. It was immortalized in the Red Car trolley show at Disney's California Adventure, in the song Suitcase and a Dream. Plenty of people. They started with nothing. A suitcase and a dream. They packed up their cases and went to new places with a suitcase and a dream. And in Hallmark's case, the new place for success was actually Kansas City in 1910. And the suitcase was actually a shoebox full of artistically designed photo postcards. But the dream was to help people connect with their friends and family with those postcards and build a stationary empire. Joyce Clyde hall stepped off a train in Kansas City looking to make a name for himself by selling picture postcards. He took up residence at the local YMCA and started selling those cards straight from the shoebox empires. They have to start somewhere. That very same year, just across town, the Disney family had also just taken up residence in Kansas City. After some unfortunate circumstances forced them into selling their farm and home in Marceline, Missouri, they decided to try out life in Kansas City to support the family. The Disney kids, Walt and Roy, took on paper Routes. And this would be young Walt Disney's first ever job. It's true that Walt Disney was going door to door delivering papers at the same time that Joyce Clyde hall was going door to door selling picture postcards. But more than likely, they never crossed paths. At this time, hall was just getting started in Kansas City, and the Disneys didn't stick around that long before they moved back to Chicago in 1913. It is, however, pretty impressive the parallels between Disney and Hallmark stories. Joyce hall tried selling postcards once before in Norfolk, Nebraska. He called the operation the Norfolk Postcard Company. The postcard scene wasn't all that hot in Nebraska, so he decided to move to a bigger city. He brought the cards he had left with him to Kansas City in 1910, and it paid off. People loved his cards. But he started noticing a trend. The people in Kansas City were starting to send cards with holiday greetings to all of their friends. You know, Christmas cards. Around this time, JC Got some support from a new investor, his brother Raleigh. And they changed the name from Norfolk to Hall Brothers. So the hall brothers started to source and sell Christmas cards through the early 1910s, until disaster struck and a fire destroyed their entire stock in 1915. This didn't stop them, however. They took what money was left in their fireproof safe and invested in a printing press. Instead of sourcing postcards and greeting cards, the hall brothers would be making their own cards. All right, let's check this out. So far, Hall's story has him leaving a smaller market for a bigger one to make an impact in a bigger city, going into business with his brother, and then losing it all to find a new idea that would be even better than the original. Hmm. I can't help but think of Walt Disney's move from Kansas City to Hollywood, where he went into business with his brother Roy to make Disney Brothers Studio, where they made cartoons until they lost it all in a bad deal with their character, Oswald. But they just pivoted into an even better idea. Mickey. And synchronized sound. All right, and it doesn't stop there. Hallmark has had its own share of innovations that would continue to revolutionize its industry, just like Disney would have with animation. For instance, in 1917, the hall brothers were doing some great business around the Christmas season, like, so great that they had sold out of the paper that people used for wrapping gifts. But this stuff wasn't what you or I would think of as gift wrap. It was pretty basic, solid color if you were lucky. Otherwise, it was stuff like those brown paper packages tied up with string. Anyway, The Hull Brothers didn't want to disappoint their customers who still wanted to wrap gifts for the holidays. So they sold some of the rolls of their fancy French patterned envelope lining paper as gift wrap, and people went crazy for it. Hallmark soon started printing its own patterned paper, especially for wrapping gifts, essentially inventing modern patterned wrapping paper. In 1928, a year that would also be pretty big for Disney, Joyce Clyde hall decided to change the name from Hall Brothers cards to Hallmark. Like the symbol goldsmiths use to show quality, the newly minted Hallmark started to branch out in marketing their wares in both print ads and magazines, as well as sponsoring radio shows, getting into entertainment. Hall also had another innovation for Hallmark. He got shop owners to put his cards on display in the front of stores. You see, back in the day, most times greeting cards were kept in drawers, and you had to thumb through the drawers, open them up, thumb through them to pick out a card. But Hallmark's patented I Vision displays put the decorative cards front and center in tiered shelves in the shops. And I couldn't imagine buying a greeting card any other way. That's kind of still how they're set up today. Right around the same time Hallmark started showing off their cards, they also got involved with Disney. In the early 1930s, Hallmark signed its first ever licensing deal, and it was with the Walt Disney Company. Hallmark was the only greeting card to show the biggest new animated superstar, Mickey Mouse. According to the Disney Company, it was actually Disney that really wanted Hallmark and reached out to them. Their cards were the best, and Disney was looking for ways to license its characters for some official partnerships. This is that same time that we saw those Disney licensing agreements with Ingersoll watches and Lionel trains. It was these Disney licensing agreements that did help the company get through the Great Depression. With the Hallmark scenario, Disney actually had a few different offers from other greeting card companies, but Walt wanted to work with Hallmark. They were the best, and Walt loved that. J.C. hall was a Midwesterner and his company was run out of Kansas City. For years to come, Hallmark cards would feature Mickey and Minnie, Donald Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, and all of our favorite Disney friends. Speaking of friends, this licensing deal led to a long lasting friendship between J.C. hall and Walt Disney. They would often visit each other when they were spending time in each other's cities. But a little more on that later. Let's talk about TV. During World War II, the commercial sales and production of televisions had slowed to put all hands on deck for the war effort. But by the late forties, and early fifties post war America saw soldiers returning, settling in the suburbs, finding new jobs and starting families, and the beginning of the new American dream. Television was more of a mainstream phenomenon and continuing to grow in popularity. It was a big part of that new American dream. The early TV networks were all jockeying for the most attention, and on Christmas day, they would have a captive audience at home. So they needed to make big Christmas specials to capture America's attention. In 1950, NBC snagged Walt Disney to make some special Christmas programming. On Christmas Day 1950, Walt Disney presents One Hour in Wonderland, sponsored by Coca Cola, was a huge success. Disney films had only ever been seen in movie theaters, and this was such a treat to see a Disney production on the small screen in your home. Other movie production companies thought Walt was crazy and that his TV special would cannibalize their movies if we just gave it away for free like that. But Walt was a synergy machine. The reason the special was called One Hour in Wonderland was that it was promoting his upcoming animated film, Alice in Wonderland. The special was a success and it led Walt to want to do more tv, which ultimately resulted in his Disneyland anthology series. NBC thought it was quite the event as well. NBC wanted to replicate the popularity of this big Christmas special event on television again the next year. So in 1951, NBC put on the first ever made for TV opera, Amdal and the Night Visitors. It was a spin on the story of the three wise men, and it was sponsored by Hallmark. Merry Christmas. It launched the series Hallmark hall of Fame, which is still on the air today, but now on the Hallmark Channel. Hallmark hall of Fame movies were known for being made for TV movies, but with a more of a theatrical look and feel. They helped elevate the quality of made for TV movies and kicked off the beginning of what would become Hallmark movies. Hallmark's NBC TV Christmas special started the events that would eventually lead to that whole genre of cheesy, predictable Christmas movies that their cable network has become known for. This was also around the same time that Hallmark started using their iconic gold crown logo. But for Disney, that TV special helped lead them into something completely different. Disneyland. To open up Disneyland in 1955, Walt needed funding and it came in the form of sponsorships. After the success of One Hour in Wonderland, all the networks wanted to have a regular Disney TV program. So Walt leveraged this and got ABC Television to put up a lot of money towards Disneyland in exchange for some Disney branded television. But Disneyland sponsorships weren't just for TV attractions. Restaurants and shops all throughout the theme park had corporate sponsors and Main street had a ton. The Carnation Ice Cream Shop, the Upjohn Pharmacy, the Wurlitzer Music hall, and of course, the Gibson Greeting Card Shop. Wait, Gibson Greeting Cards? I thought we were talking about Hallmark. Cincinnati's Gibson was another card and gift wrap company that was Hallmark's direct competition in 1955. Disney was taking sponsorships from wherever they could get them. Even though Walt was friends with J.C. hall, he needed money for his park. No hard feelings, and this really didn't actually affect their friendship that much. But it seemed that Hallmark as a company couldn't quite let it go. Gibson's contract with Disney ran out just four years later in 1959. And Hallmark was there just waiting to scoop up that sponsorship and be the sponsor of that Main street card shop. The Main Street Card Shop was sponsored by Hallmark from 1960 until 1985. They stuck around so much longer, they would also sponsor an opening day Hallmark shop on Main Street. In Walt Disney World as well, JC hall saw and appreciated the impressiveness of Disneyland, not just for the entertainment, but for the city planning aspects as well. J.C. hall had had some talks with Disney about some building projects that he had envisioned. At the same time, Disney had been working on his City of Tomorrow concept, Epcot. Walt would pass away before he could complete EPCOT. But J.C. hall stated in his memoir that he was inspired by Walt Disney's concepts when he built Crown center in the heart of Kansas City. Crown center is a mixed use development that would be a place for the world headquarters of Hallmark, but also a place where the community could gather, shop and be entertained. And thanks to J.C. hall's conversations with Walt Disney, there's a little bit of Epcot DNA there too. Even though Walt was gone, Hallmark's licensing with Disney would continue on and become stronger than ever. And it would expand to products beyond the greeting cards and the gift wrap. Hallmark always seems to make big moves around the Christmas season, and in 1973, they took it to the trees. They released a small series of 18 ornaments, 12 of them little yarn characters and six of them decorated glass ball ornaments. And they called these the Hallmark Keepsake ornaments. They were a big hit that year and they continued to make them year after year, each time producing more and more, eventually making entire Christmas catalogs worth of Christmas ornaments each season. In 1977, the first hallmark Keepsake Disney ornament was a glass ball decorated with Mickey Mouse. Practically every year after this, Hallmark almost always included at least one Disney themed ornament. And today There are tons each year. Hallmark ornaments now have lights and sound. They interact with each other and their Disney licensing represents the animated movies, live action movies, Marvel, Star wars, even the Disney parks. The Hallmark keepsake ornaments have a fandom of their own. There are super collectors out there, and Hallmark has started setting up booths at Comic Cons and Star Wars Celebration and even the D23 Expo. They make special edition ornaments for the fan events and people line up for the opportunity to buy the event only ornaments. There are so many variations. There are seriously too many ornaments to even talk about all of them on this one podcast episode. But this is also where my own Disney Hallmark connection comes into play. In my home, we have a Disney themed tree. Okay, there is some other stuff on there too, but it's basically a 95% Disney themed tree. And if you've been watching this on YouTube, you have seen some of my favorite Disney Hallmark keepsake ornaments that come from my family's collection. My favorite one is this really cool Main street electrical parade float ornament that I got last year. It lights up in all the colors of the rainbow and plays the sweet sounds of Baroque hoedown. The Hallmark keepsake ornaments are my favorite of our Disney Christmas tree ornaments. They're just more detailed, more interactive. They're just magical. And recently I found out why. This past summer, I had the opportunity to visit the Hallmark world headquarters at Crown center in Kansas City. And just across from the Hallmark offices is a Hallmark visitor center museum. There are sections on Crayola. Did you know that Hallmark owns Crayola? There's sections on Hallmark movies and the cards and the gift wrap. And there's even this really cool machine that will make you a gift bow with the press of a button. But there was also some sections on the Hallmark Christmas ornament. And there was an entire room all about Hallmark's relationship with Disney when it comes to making the keepsake ornaments. Now, I think I lucked out on this one after talking to some employees at the museum. They mentioned that they had just opened up the Disney Room to be a companion to the Disney 100 exhibition that had just arrived in Kansas City earlier this summer. So this Disney Hallmark keepsake ornament room is not necessarily a permanent display. They also mentioned that the Disney 100 exhibition had some items on loan from Hallmark while it would be in Kansas City. So I think that's pretty cool too. This Disney ornament room, though, it was really neat. It had a desk setup of what a Hallmark artist would use to design and sculpt an ornament to Disney specifications. You could see a concept art board for a Mickey ornament where he tries on this oversized sweater as well as some sketches and sculpts of some other Mickey and friends ornaments. On the far wall of the display, they had a shelf displaying Disney licensed Hallmark collectibles and decorations. Now, Disney has a lot of licenses out there for all sorts of things, but they don't play fast and loose with them either. If you had a Disney license for, say, Christmas stockings, you would have to use the stock art made by a Disney artist of the characters that you would want to use. They don't just trust anyone to make art with their characters in it. But Hallmark isn't just anyone. Hallmark is one of the only companies with a Disney license that's allowed to create original art of Disney's characters. There's a lot of trust in this relationship. Disney rolls out the red carpet for these Hallmark artists. In the exhibit room, there was also a short video playing on a loop that talked about this licensee relationship. In the video, artist Tim Boden Distill talks about the incredible access that Disney gives Hallmark artists with archival material and visits to the park. He even shared about how Disney invites him and other Hallmark artists to come to the Disney studios and study with the Disney artists. Just like the relationship between JC and Walt, Hallmark and Disney have more than just a simple licensing agreement. The final showstopper in that room was a Christmas tree that was decked from star to skirt in Hallmark keepsake ornaments featuring Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars. It even had a giant spider man on it. But that wasn't all the Disney. In the Hallmark Visitors center, there's this one more spot, the Hallmark Visitors Center Museum, specifically for Disney fans. In the timeline and history of the company section, there's a whole display devoted to the connection between Disney and Hallmark. In the glass case, you can see Hallmark's first use of Disney characters On its cards. You can see some correspondence between J.C. hall and Walt Disney, including a letter J.C. sent to Walt during their talks in the original licensing agreement back in the 1930s and a 1960s thank you note from Walt to JC for offering up a Kansas City apartment for Walt to stay in during a visit. And so many more. JC and Walt's connection is at the core of the connection we still see today between Hallmark and Disney. Every holiday season, when my family and I set up the Christmas tree, we connect to Disney because we do have a mostly Disney tree. But we also connect to the holiday memories of the past through the ornaments that mark milestones, or the ones that were given to my children as gifts from their grandparents, or even the ones that I got as a kid and still hang on the tree each Christmas season. And that. That's all Hallmark, just like my holiday memories. This episode was special to me and I'm so glad that you took a listen and I got to share it with you. And I've always got some more great Disney connections coming right up. So if you want to make sure that you don't miss them, go ahead and subscribe or follow wherever you are enjoying Synergy Loves company right now. YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify. Go to synergylovescompany.com and you'll find a link to all of them. Click Follow or Subscribe and you'll know whenever a new episode drops. And if you've been listening for a while, let's take this thing to the next level. I would love to connect with you and so why don't you reach out and follow me on Facebook, Instagram threads or bluesky in all those places? I'm Synergy Loves Company except for bluesky. I'm Erich H. Synergy, but don't stop there. Could you please share this show with a friend of yours who would enjoy Synergy Loves Company? It'll be like an audio greeting card. An audio Christmas card you send to them, tell them about the show, tell them about this episode or maybe another episode that was your favorite. Send them a link on social media and please tag me in it so I can say hi. Or you could tell them to visit synergylovescompany.com and give it a listen. And remember, this show is listener supported. There's no sponsors, it's just you and me. And if you feel like you get something out of this podcast and you want to send me your own little gold crown worthy greeting, you can do that by supporting the show on KO Fi. You can buy me a cup of coffee, keep me caffeinated to have enough energy to make another episode. I thank you in advance no matter how you decide to support this show. I really appreciate you and the time that you spent with me today. Without you, I'd just be talking to myself. And that's not nearly as much fun as talking to you. So thanks for joining me on this adventure through Disney's relationship with Hallmark. And remember, Disney magic isn't just in the parks. It's all around us. Even in the ornaments that you hang on your tree. Until next time, keep discovering the Disney magic in everything.