The "Hallmark holiday" term
"Hallmark holiday" is a disparaging term, used predominantly in the United States, to describe a holiday that exists primarily for commercial purposes, rather than to commemorate a traditionally significant religious or secular event.
The name comes from Hallmark Cards, a privately owned American company based in Kansas City, Missouri, that benefits from such manufactured events through sales of greeting cards and other items. The company itself denies having any role in the creation of the holidays that bear this moniker.
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Holidays that have been referred to
as "Hallmark Holidays" include...
- Valentines Day - Valentine's Day or Saint Valentine's Day is a holiday celebrated on February 14. In the Americas and Europe, it is the traditional day on which lovers express their love for each other by sending Valentine's cards, presenting flowers, or offering confectionery.
- Mother's Day - Mother's Day is a day honoring mothers, celebrated on various days in many places around the world. Different countries celebrate Mother's Day on various days of the year because the day has a number of different origins.
- Father's Day - Father's Day is a celebration inaugurated in the early twentieth century to complement Mother's Day in celebrating fatherhood and male parenting, and to honor and commemorate fathers and forefathers. Father's Day is celebrated on a variety of dates worldwide and typically involves gift-giving, and special dinners to fathers and family-oriented activities. In 2008, it was celebrated on June 15 in many countries.
- Sweetest Day - Sweetest Day is an observance celebrated primarily in the Great Lakes region and parts of the Northeast United States on the third Saturday in October. It is described by Retail Confectioners International as an "occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember not only the sick, aged and orphaned, but also friends, relatives and associates whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed."Sweetest Day has also been referred to as a "concocted promotion" created by the candy industry solely to increase sales of candy.
- Christmas in July - Christmas in July, alternatively Holiday(s) in July in the United States, is a party concept exploited as a marketing opportunity. It generally occurs during the month of July.
- In Western culture, Christmas occurs on December 25. With Christmas generally comes gift-giving and much holiday cheer. During the summer months in the northern hemisphere, the weather becomes increasingly warm and many people crave the atmosphere of cooler temperatures, gift giving, and holiday spirit. To satisfy this craving, some people throw parties during the month of July that mimic the holiday of Christmas. Features of Christmas in July include Santa Claus, ice cream and other cold foods, and gifts. Often nightclubs host parties open to the public.
- In the southern hemisphere, Christmas in July are generally social parties that are celebrated because of the mainstream northern hemisphere's association of winter with Christmas. As July is generally the coldest month of the year, Christmas in July parties are commonly held to celebrate the winter month, and the halfway point between actual Christmas.
- Boss's Day - Boss' Day (also known as Bosses Day or National Boss Day) is a secular holiday celebrated on October 16 in the United States. It has traditionally been a day for employees to thank their boss for being kind and fair throughout the year. The holiday has been the source of some controversy and criticism in the United States, where it is often mocked as a Hallmark Holiday.
- National Boss' Day is usually celebrated by presenting one's boss with a small gift or greeting card. It is also customary to treat one's boss with extreme kindness, very similar to a birthday. Some fair-minded and generous bosses have been known to use petty cash to treat their employees to lunch on this festive day -- though it may take some time before this observance becomes widespread.
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The most celebrated "Hallmark Holidays"
According to ualbanyezine.com these are the top 5 Hallmark Holidays and a bit of the information they collected about Hallmarks reports.
- 1.) Valentine's Day: "Hallmark reports selling about 188 million greeting cards around Valentine's Day."
- 2.) Mother's Day: "More than 150 million Mother's Day cards are purchased from Hallmark every year." "It's said that Mother's Day is the third-largest card sending holiday in the United States."
- 3.) Father's Day: "Almost 103 million cards are sold on Father's Day, 50 percent of which are purchased for dad and 20 percent are purchased for husbands." "Other categories include grandfathers, sons, brothers, uncles, someone special, and a Father's Day card for your mother."
- 4.) Halloween: "Halloween is a favorite family tradition and an occasion to recognize the fall harvest and autumn season." "Hallmark reports selling about 29 million Halloween cards."
- 5.) St. Patrick's Day: "Hallmark's card sales for St. Patrick's Day are highest in the Northeast, with Boston being the top city." "Americans will exchange about ten million St. Patrick's Day cards this year which makes it the eighth-largest card sending holiday in the United States."
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"Friendship cards are also increasing in popularity. Since 1919, Hallmark’s founder, Joyce Hall, recognized the importance of sending friendship cards after a friend suggested he put an Edgar Guest poem on one of his cards." "It began “I’d like to be the sort of friend that you have been to me …”
"Since 1935, Congress has recognized National Friendship Day on Aug. 7." "On the other hand, for Hallmark, Friendship Day is every day." "The public agrees." "Hallmark sells 160 million friendship cards each year."
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Related to "Hallmark Holiday" is the pop-culture term "Hallmark Moment." It can suggest either a serendipitous event or encounter, or a sappy emotional appeal, especially manipulation of emotion for financial gain.
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You may also be interested in:
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Websites that address the topic of “Hallmark Holidays”
