Contemporary Mother’s Day and Father’s Day Greeting Cards

Abstract

Mother’s and Father’s Day greeting cards were analyzed for (a) ideologies of motherhood and fatherhood in the themes and objects/pictures; (b) color palette, color, and lettering; and (c) the impact of the sender’s gender and relationship to the recipient. The sample consisted of 442 cards on the Hallmark website. Ritualized holidays tend to support the status quo, and traditional ideologies of motherhood and fatherhood, namely a nurturing role for mothers and an instrumental role for fathers, were reflected in the themes and the objects/pictures on the cards. A pastel color palette, pink and purple, and script lettering characterized Mother’s Day cards, whereas a bold color palette, blue, tan, black, brown and red, and whimsical lettering characterized Father’s Day cards. There were variations across the cards that revealed the salience of the sender’s gender and relationship to the recipient. The limitations of this research and suggestions for future research are discussed.