Innovators in the Greeting Card Industry
09/15/09
Blue Mountain creations, featuring the trademark company style of poetry and prose superimposed over a colorful nature background, spread joy wherever they are. Over 1,000 Blue Mountain e card designs are available to send electronically to a loved one to mark a special holiday or occasion. Blue Mountain cards are not limited to the English language, either; you can send greetings in several different languages.
The Blue Mountain cards company was started in the early 1970s by Boulder, Colorado couple Stephen Schutz and Susan Polis Schutz as a vehicle for their hobbies (illustration for Stephen, poetry for Susan). They began by combining Stephens artwork and Susans free form poetry to create poster prints that embodied their shared feelings about life, love and nature, very much in keeping with the hippie culture of the time. Blue Mountain was originally conceived as a poster print business after Stephen and Susan persuaded a local Boulder bookseller to sell several of their prints on consignment. The business took off with the posters popularity; soon other area stores began carrying the prints. The parent company, Blue Mountain Arts, was officially formed in 1971. With the posters popularity, Stephen and Susan began travelling the country selling their art and soon branched out into gift books, calendars and stationery. Stephen and Susan transferred their art to Blue Mountain greeting cards soon thereafter. Blue Mountain cards, in fact, introduced the all occasion blank greeting card to the public. They also introduced a second greeting card innovation: the inclusion of expressive free form poetry to the interior of their cards, replacing the staid traditional rhyming messages used for so long.
Blue Mountain Arts introduced the electronic greeting card to the world when they launched their free e card website in 1996. The concept was a natural extension of the Schutz family practice of communicating with their college age son through electronic messages and greetings. Once again, Blue Mountain cards, through its e cards line, was an innovator. They offered their e cards for free, and they allowed the sender to add personal greetings to the card rather than select from a collection of stock messages. The recipient received an email notification of the card and accessed it through an attached link to the company website. Greeting cards were never so easy to select and send.
Through the e cards website, Blue Mountain cards can now be sent in any number of languages all over the globe.