Wednesday, August 19, 2009

Blue Mountain Cards Have Changed the Greeting Card Industry



Blue Mountain spreads joy not only through its e cards, but through its books, calendars and posters that feature poetry and prose written over colorful nature backgrounds. There are over 1,000 Blue Mountain e card designs to choose from and send electronically to a friend or family member 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.

Boulder, Colorado couple Stephen Schutz and Susan Polis Schutz started the Blue Mountain cards company in the early 1970s as a vehicle for their illustration and poetry hobbies. They combined Stephens artwork and Susans free form poetry to create posters expressing their shared feelings about life, love and nature, which was 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 popularity of the posters convinced Stephen and Susan to offer them to other stores in the area, and the business soon took off.

The parent company, Blue Mountain Arts, was officially formed in 1971. Stephen and Susan travelled the country selling their art, and business expanded so much that they soon branched out into gift books, calendars and stationery. Not long afterwards, they also transferred their art to Blue Mountain greeting cards. Blue Mountain cards, in fact, introduced the all occasion blank greeting card to the public. The company was also responsible for introducing expressive free form poetry to their cards, replacing the traditional, formal rhyming messages used up to that point.

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, through its line of e cards, Blue Mountain Cards was an innovator. Their cards were free, and they allowed the sender to insert personal greetings rather than use a stock message. Blue Mountain then sent the recipient an electronic notification of the card, which the recipient could access through an attached link to the company website. Greeting cards were never so easy to select and send.

Blue Mountain e cards are now available in any number of languages and can be sent all over the globe.