American Greetings Celebrates Black History Month

CLEVELAND, Jan. 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Each February when our nation applauds the achievements of our African American community, American Greetings shares in the celebration of Black History Month. Back by popular demand and with pride, American Greetings again offers a brand new special collection of "In Rhythm" cards, which celebrate the culture, contributions and faith of these fine Americans in words and illustrations.

American Greetings "In Rhythm" cards celebrate the nature of the African American culture. During Black History Month in particular, American Greetings offers spiritual, inspirational, humorous, romantic, birthday, friendship, encouragement, miss you, and thank you cards.

On the front of a friendship card, for example, two young girls are laughing playfully together and are pictured with a quote from the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., which reads, "The highest good is love. This principle is at the center of the cosmos. It is the great unifying force of life." The verse inside reads, "In life few things are constant - I'm so glad our friendship is one of them."

"The artwork and messages reflect the African American woman's lifestyle," said Damita Curry, program administrator for Birthday and Everyday Cards. "It is one of American Greetings strongest programs because it meets the cultural expectations of the African American consumer."

One "In Rhythm" birthday card features a trendy African American woman saying, "Girl, for your birthday, I hope you get your groove back!" Inside, the card reads, "What? You never lost it? I just assumed ... sorry, my bad. Anyway, have a good one, girl!"

American Greetings "In Rhythm" cards are an example of the way greeting cards typify our world's changing lifestyles. American Greetings has offered ethnic greeting cards for over 25 years. Trend spotters at American Greetings forecast color, style, language and social trends in creative communications technologies.

American Greetings' commitment to cultural diversity is exemplified through product offerings such as "In Rhythm" and "Baobob Tree," as well as the Company's extensive Spanish card offerings. "In Rhythm" cards for Black History Month are available at participating supermarket, drug and mass merchandiser stores, as well as card and gift shops that carry American Greetings or Carlton cards.

American Greetings is the world's largest publicly held creator, manufacturer and distributor of greeting cards and social expression products. Its staff of artists, designers and writers comprises one of the largest creative departments in the world and helps consumers "say it best" by supplying more than 15,000 greeting card designs to retail outlets in nearly every English-speaking country. Located in Cleveland, Ohio, American Greetings drives annual sales of more than $2.5 billion. For more information on the company, visit http://www.americangreetings.com/ on the World Wide Web.