Hallmark Cards, Inc.
The Night Before Christmas (Pop-Up Book)
Kansas City, Missouri: Hallmark Cards, Inc., [ca. 1970s]. First edition.
Oblong octavo (10½ x 7¾ in; 26.5 x 19.7 cm). [16] pp., including six elaborate double-page pop-up scenes.
Printed in Singapore. Illustrated by Greg Churchill. Text by Clement C. Moore.
A fine, unused copy of this highly collectible first edition. Minor bumping to bottom right corner, but internally pristine. All pop-up scenes are crisp and fully functional. Notably, this copy does not exhibit the common tearing at the chimney scene, where most copies are damaged when opened flat. To preserve its fine condition, the book should not be fully opened on that page.
Condition:
About fine. Glossy illustrated boards bright and clean. No markings, tears, or repairs. Binding tight. A scarce example in such well-preserved state, especially without the typical mechanical damage.
Collector’s Corner:
Hallmark Cards, Inc. began in 1910 in Kansas City, Missouri, when 18-year-old Joyce Clyde Hall started selling postcards. By 1954, the company had officially changed its name from Hall Brothers to Hallmark Cards, Inc., reflecting its expansion into television sponsorships and holiday merchandising.
In 1969, Hallmark acquired Graphics International from Waldo Hunt (1920–2009), the paper engineer widely credited with reviving the genre of pop-up and movable books in the mid-20th century. Hunt remained with Hallmark as it ramped up its pop-up book production, eventually launching over 70 titles between the mid-1960s and 1980. Hunt later left in 1974 to found Intervisual Communications, which would become one of the most prolific U.S. publishers of mechanical books.
According to Bowdoin College Library, Hallmark’s first known pop-up titles appeared as a boxed set titled The Collection of Hallmark Animal Pop-Up Books (Kansas City: Hallmark Cards, 1966), including: The Backyard Zoo, The Kingdom of the Sea, The Terrible Lizards, and The World of Horses. Each of these compact volumes (10 x 14.5 cm) featured 36 pages and 3 pop-up scenes, and were authored by Mary Loberg and David L. Harrison. Printed in Japan, the paper engineer remains uncredited.
Several Hallmark pop-up titles from this early period were also issued in French-language editions by Rouge et Or in Paris, echoing Waldo Hunt’s international influence.