Does A Think Tank Serve Donuts?

Think tank: "A group organized to provide information and ideas." (In other words, come up with an idea that makes the company LOTS of money).

We artists were jealous of Hallmark. Their company treated the artists every morning to a rolling cart filled with donuts, danish, and cinnamon rolls. American Greetings artists could only dream.

When I arrived at my new surroundings, I had always pondered the logistics of a "think tank." Ours, called Promotional, had a conference room adjacent to a larger room populated by six artists and five writers, all chosen from existing departments. Not knowing what to expect in this newly-formed entity, our bosses, artist Harvey Kleinman and writer George Burditt, must have felt like it something akin to herding cats.

John Brinkerhoff writing copy in our conference room

It wasn't long before George headed for Hollywood where he became an Emmy winning writer for sitcoms such as All in the Family and Three's Company. The rumor had it that kind, talented Harvey later joined a commune. What an entertaining thought.

Writer, Doris (front), Harvey Kleinman (back right)

George Burditt and Susie DeSoto

Ariel Mather

Maxine Masterfield

For me, life there could only be described as a dream job at a dream time: I not only became engaged to a tall, dark, handsome airline pilot, but also reveled in a job with soft starting times, few definite assignments, and few deadlines. Our only objective was to create new directions and lots of revenue for the company.

So I did.

Coming up next: The Card Line That Made American Greetings Rich(er)