 Hallmark Cards, Inc., has created a special all on which are hung cards that never actually made it in to print. Some of the cards were sent back to the company for being too profane while others came back because they contained snide comments considered inopportune at the times. Employees of Hallmark's Shoebox division who actually make their livings writing humerous greetings find only a fraction of their work ending up as cards for birthdays, holidays and special occasions. There is a giant fabric "NO" along one of the office's walls. Those potential cards that earned a chuckle but were not published are marked "FBN" -- funny but no -- and placed on the wall. At times, an idea banished to the FBN graveyard ends up being ressurected. But, that is a rare occurence. While some writers do have a hard time saying good by to their favorite entry, Bill Gray, who is a card writer, is one who is not sentimental about his unused cards. He maintains that they are just jokes. He indicates that he forgets about them pretty fast after he writes them --whether or not they are used. |
