Greeting Card Artist

George Burkhardt.   In 1941, a small group of greeting card publishers under the leadership of George Burkhardt of Burkhardt-Warner established the Greeting Card Industry, predecessor of today's Greeting Card Association. Formed in response to a War Department order to reduce paper use by 25%, the organization successfully fought the possible elimination of paper used for greeting cards during World War II by launching "Defense Stamp Christmas Cards" and V-Mail greeting cards to help promote defense stamps and war bonds. Another effort named "Greeting Cards in Wartime" showed how greeting cards helped keep families in touch and boost the morale of soldiers fighting abroad. Millions of greeting cards were provided by the association through the Red Cross to wounded servicemen.