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Graduation
| Most graduations occur in May and June, but some are as early as mid-April or as late as the first week in July. Mid-year college commencement ceremonies are typically in December. |
| Industry-wide, approximately 78 million graduation cards are given annually. |
| The Class of 2008 consists of nearly 6.3 million high school and college graduates. (Source: National Center for Education Statistics) |
| Money is the most popular graduation gift, and money-holder/gift card-holder cards are top sellers for Hallmark. |
| High school graduation is the No. 1 reason for purchasing graduation cards, and the average graduate receives 17.5 graduation cards. 60 percent of all graduation cards are purchased for high school graduates. |
| College graduation is the No. 2 reason for buying graduation cards, and the average college graduate receives 7.5 cards. |
| Increasingly, graduates give thank-you cards and gifts to parents and teachers to express appreciation for guidance and support during their years of education. |
| Hallmark has been producing graduation cards since the 1920s. |
2008 Product Features
- Hallmark offers more than 500 graduation card designs, including cards for:
- Professions (nurse, law, medical doctor, pharmacist, veterinarian, dentist).
- Service (police academy, firefighter, EMT certification).
- Post-graduate degrees (doctorate, master’s and MBA).
- High school and college graduations.
- Pre-school, kindergarten, grade school, middle school and junior high graduations.
- Teachers, coaches, bus drivers and grad-to-grad.
- The cards range from serious, success-oriented and inspirational to humorous. High school and college cards tend to focus on accomplishments and good wishes for the future.
- Hallmark offers more than 60 money-holder graduation cards, the majority are designed to also be used as gift-card holders.
- Hallmark Gold Crown® stores offer the widest variety of unique and innovative cards. Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED™ graduation cards help save lives in Africa. Cards With Sound play audio clips from movies and TV shows, as well as favorite songs such as “Pomp and Circumstance,” “Bust A Move” by Young MC, “Nah Nah Hey Hey Kiss Him Goodbye” by Steam, and “The Best” by Tina Turner.
- Mahogany offers 30 cards for African-American graduates, including money-/gift-card holders, and one card for graduates of historically black colleges and universities.
- Sinceramente Hallmark offers 40 Spanish-language graduation cards for Hispanic consumers. The line includes money-holder cards, which also are compatible with gift cards.
- A collection of Hallmark graduation gifts and mementos is suitable for all ages. Plush animals with mortarboards – including designs featuring a bear, Snoopy and Tweety Bird – are perfect keepsakes for presenting monetary gifts or gift cards.
- Tassel keepers, commemorative photo frames and Instant Scrapbooks are useful and lasting gifts for high-school and college graduations. One photo frame enables the giver to record a 10-second message. Others play songs such as “Pomp and Circumstance” or “Celebration” by Kool & the Gang.
- Several products help guests give an easy personalized gift to the graduate including a coaster, key chain and paper weight into which a photo can be inserted.
- Gift Books from Hallmark make perfect gifts for the graduate or for a special teacher who made a difference. Titles include School’s Out, Life’s On; Congratulations Graduate; and Teachers Touch Lives.
- Hallmark offers invitations, graduation gift wrap and gift bags, as well as graduation partyware, balloons and accessories. The gift wrap collection includes unique ways to wrap up gifts of money or gift cards including a mortarboard-shaped box that plays “Celebration” by Kool & the Gang when you lift the lid. Gift bags and wrap feature trendy designs using popular school colors and showcase the “Class of 2008.” Designs are appropriate for high school and college graduations.
Celebration History
Today’s graduation ceremony is the modern equivalent of the ancient rite of passage from youth into adulthood celebrated in many tribes and clans. Commencement is the contemporary way to acknowledge that an important milestone has been passed.
Early degree ceremonies took place in the mid-12th century at the University of Bologna, and soon after, at Paris, Oxford and Cambridge. Harvard was the first American college to hold a commencement ceremony in 1642.
Graduation gowns reflect the general manner of dress in the late Middle Ages and Renaissance period. Many are black, although the gowns used in many high school ceremonies reflect school colors. The sleeves of a collegiate graduation gown indicate the level of a graduate’s degree.
The four-sided graduation cap first appeared in the 16th century in Scotland. It originally was known as a “trencher” cap because it looked like an inverted serving board – a trencher – with a bowl on it. The term “mortarboard” developed in the 19th century.
High-school graduates in the United States began wearing the now traditional commencement cap and gown in 1908.
In Stores
Available at Hallmark Gold Crown® stores nationwide and wherever Hallmark products are sold. Use the store locator on Hallmark.com to find the nearest Hallmark Gold Crown store.
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