Ann Lovelien, advertising manager, R.A. Lang Card Company, Ltd., Delafield, Wisc., said they always receive a wonderful response to their cards and other stationery products with cats. Lang creates greeting cards based on artists’ original works. This artwork appears on boxed Christmas cards, note cards, calendars and monthly planners, a variety of stationery products including note pads and list pads, as well as gift sets.
In response to the huge interest in cats, Cats in the Country, their second cat calendar, was launched. It features the paintings of Persis Clayton Weirs, an artist that uses nature, fine art, and true life in his works. Lang’s original cat calendar, the American Cat Calendar, features the paintings of Lowell Herrero, and can be described as more folk artsy or whimsical. Herrero’s works also appear on greeting cards and other stationery products. In 1996, Lang introduced their Curious Cats line which features a variety of artists and approaches.
According to Chris Mueller, American Greetings’ seasonal product manager, five of the company’s 15 top-selling humorous Mother’s Day cards in 1998 were either “from the cat” or “from the dog.” “They are surprisingly-popular with our customers,” Mueller said. “The definition of our families is expanding,” Mueller continued. “Pets — along with friends, neighbors, and co-workers, are included in the widening circle that people turn to for support.”
Lisa Rogak, Litterature, Grafton, N.H., said she decided to design a line of greeting cards for cats when none of the holiday cards she received were intended for her felines. “While playing with my cats during the holiday season of 1994, I thought it was too bad that they didn’t get any Christmas cards,” Rogak recalled. “A light bulb went off, and I started to think about all of the different occasions when it would be nice to send a greeting card to a cat or dog — or to receive one from them.”
