Halloween Postcards : Rust Craft

THE RUST CRAFT GREETING CARD COMPANY

The Rust Craft Greeting Card Company was born in a bookshop in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1906. Fred Winslow Rust, owner of the bookshop, created and printed what was believed to be the first Christmas card, with a brief message in two colors on heavy tan paper. This was such a success that Rust went on tomake letters, postcards, and greeting cards with envelopes. Rust revolutionized the use of the “French Fold,” amethod of folding paper into quarters in order to print a card on a single sheet of paper with a single printedside. Fred’s brother, Donald, joined up and helped with the manufacturing and finances so Fred could concentrate on creativity and sales. Fred and his staff wrote many of the most popular messages. Theyinvented Valentines, cards for Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, and Thanksgiving; they also produced anniversary cards and bon voyage and travel messages. The company introduced Braille cards for the visually impaired. Eventually, they gave up the book shop and moved the greeting card business to Boston, where they ceased their retail business entirely.
When the firm arrived in Boston, it set up shop at 1000 Washington Street in the South End. In 1954, having outgrown that space, they moved Rust Craft to Dedham, where they built their own much admired facility on Rustcraft Road and remained in business until 1980. The business was then purchased by ZiffCorporation, who also owned Norcross Greeting Card Company, and Rust Craft’s manufacturing wasrelocated to the Norcross facility in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Both Rust Craft and Norcross Greeting card companies were eventually bought by Windsor Communications, which struggled to create a successfulmerger. Windsor attempted to sell Norcross’s upscale cards and Rust Craft’s mass-market cards, but this strategy did not work out. They could not take advantage of the economy of scale, since they were still making two distinct types of card. Windsor was also competing with Hallmark and American Greetings Corporation, which together accounted for 75 percent of the $2 billion card market. The Windsor Corporation went bankrupt and American Greetings Corporation picked up whatever was left of the two failed companies.
As far as Fred and Donald Rust, both men were born in Belfast, Maine, but moved to Kansas City at ayoung age due to their father’s work. During the time that Fred was running Rust Craft he wrote and published three volumes of poetry. He lived in Newton with his wife and son, and spent summers in Cohasset. He died in 1949 at the age of 73. Donald died in 1961 at the age of 84. He spent his final years in Cohasset, leaving behind a wife, two sons and four grandchildren.

http://dedhamhistorical.org