Valentine's Day Cards

Approximately 152 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged industry-wide (not including packaged kids’ valentines for classroom exchanges), making Valentine’s Day the second-largest holiday for giving greeting cards.

Hallmark creates more than 2,000 Valentine’s Day greeting card designs.

In addition to the United States, Valentine's Day in celebrated in Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom, France, Australia, Denmark, and Italy.

Hallmark first offered Valentine’s Day cards in 1913 and began producing them in 1916.

2010 Product News

Hallmark Valentine’s Day greeting card prices begin at just 99 cents. The line includes cards for love relationships, family members, children, friends and other special people in consumers’ lives. It features everything from messages of passionate love to sassy and flirty messages, and from humor to heartfelt to sentiments. Many popular licensed properties are represented, including Disney characters, Peanuts™ and Kim Anderson.
New Webcam Greetings bring augmented reality technology to greeting cards for Valentine's Day 2010. The person receiving a Hallmark card with augmented reality can visit Hallmark.com/extra and follow the directions to be able to view a 3D animated feature by holding the greeting card up to a web camera. The line includes four hoops&yoyo Cards With Sound and six traditional cards.
Also arriving in stores for Valentine's Day 2010, new Video Greetings feature a video screen on the cover of a Hallmark card. The recipient pushes a button to watch a mini movie, lasting 30-60 seconds. A love card, for example, features favorite kiss clips from Disney movies like Lady and the Tramp, Sleeping Beauty and Beauty and the Beast.
New DVD Greetings include a card with a coordinating DVD. The sender follows the included instructions using the template on the DVD to create a customized slide show set to music using their personal photographs. The recipient receives a beautifully designed card and professional-quality DVD slide show.
New First-Class Sound Cards offer audio clips of Hallmark-recorded songs and sounds for juvenile recipients. The cards are smaller than standard Cards With Sound, and the song clips are shorter, but the cards can be mailed with just one first class stamp.
Some Cards With Sound, which play popular songs by original artists, now feature the added surprise of pop-up motion when they are opened. Songs include "I Only Want to Be with You” by Dusty Springfield and “Bushel and a Peck” by Doris Day. One card features hoops&yoyo.
A new Dual Speaker Card With Sound features two speakers with the characters hoops&yoyo™ talking back and forth.
Hallmark has added music to some of the popular Between You & Me cards, which feature longer, more intimate, me-to-you messages that are especially popular at Valentine’s Day. The cards’ sentimental messages are paired with familiar instrumental songs, such as “How Sweet It Is to Be Loved by You.”
Recordable Cards enable the sender to record a 10-second message that plays when the card is opened. Some of the cards also include a song clip that plays before the recorded message. Song titles include “My Guy” by Mary Wells, “I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)” by The Four Tops and “Let’s Get It On” by Marvin Gaye.
Cards with Sound play favorite songs by the original artists and audio clips from movies and TV shows with CD-like quality. The cards feature songs such as “What a Wonderful World” by Louis Armstrong, “Live to Party” by the Jonas Brothers as well as Disney Princesses, Twilight and hoops&yoyo.
Big Time Sound cards measure 11-by-11 inches and pack powerful sound quality. Songs include “Who Let the Dogs Out” by Baha Men and “The Best” by Tina Turner.
Cards With Motion give the illusion of a two-second video or animation clip, a 3D image, or a combination of both when the cards are tipped from side to side. Some of the cards also feature sound or are available in an 8-by-8-inch size with well-known personalities such as Peanuts®, Tinker Bell, Disney/Pixar’s Toy Story and Spider-Man™.
Cards With Light and Sound combine two innovative technologies into one card. For example, one card lights up the Eiffel Tower while fireworks shoot off in the background.
Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED™ Valentine’s Day cards give consumers the opportunity to save lives of women and children in Africa. Some of the cards also include sound. A portion of the sales from Hallmark (PRODUCT) RED goes directly to the Global Fund to help women and children living with HIV/AIDS in Africa.
Mahogany offers more than 120 cards for African-American consumers, including five Cards With Sound. Songs include “What a Man” by Salt and Pepa and “Sexual Healing” by Marvin Gaye.
Hallmark Sinceramente provides more than 200 cards for Hispanic consumers, including nine Cards With Sound that feature Spanish songs by top Latin artists, including “Te Amo” by Franco de Vita and “Limon y Sal” by Julieta Venegas. Hallmark Sinceramente also introduces a Recordable Card With Music and Big Time Sound card this year.
Valentines for classroom exchange have evolved from a boxed format to new cello packages. The line includes 10 options in three formats — traditional paper valentines, Magic Motion designs that give the illusion of a fully animated 2-second scene, and deluxe cards that come with a bonus sticker sheet and a large poster. Kids’ favorite characters include JONAS, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Peanuts®, hoops&yoyo™, The Penguins of Madagascar, Wizards of Waverly Place and more.