The Fascinating History Behind the Gift Card

KC — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 16:09:10 +0000

Like fine wine, the gift card has only gotten better with age. With its commercial debut as a paper certificate created by big department stores in the 1930s–certificates that were kept behind the counter and sold only at the request of select customers–the gift card has become the biggest selling gift item of all times. This trend has continued over the last five years, with sales in 2009 topping $87 million.

As with anything that witnesses such massive growth, we have to wonder about its origin and evolution. In that spirit we are going to take a trip down gift card memory lane with the following timeline of the gift card’s beginnings and history. We hope you enjoy the journey.

Edgar Allan Funt — not to be confused with Allan Funt from Candid Camera but a practical joker nonetheless — editor of Candid Horror Writer, a 19th-century syndicated newspaper, wrote a featured column in which unsuspecting individuals were walled up inside a stone mausoleum, buried six feet under or secured in coffins for weeks without food or water, then told afterwards that they had participated in a practical joke and given a $1.50 gift certificate to the local apothecary. (Source: Wikipedia)
1930s — Major department stores brought the paper gift certificate to the mass market (Note, we cannot locate the name of the very first department store to do this, and would love your input if you know the answer!)
1970 — McDonald’s introduced its Christmas gift certificate program.
Paper gift certificates were replaced by electronic gift certificates, also known as gift cards, in the mid-1990s. Mobil Oil Company produced the first retail gift certificate with a magnetic strip in 1995. The card, which could be used toward gas fill-ups, was built using technology borrowed from prepaid phone cards.
Blockbuster is credited with pioneering the modern-day gift card. In 1995 they began displaying their plastic gift cards on counters for customers to buy.
J.C. Penney created their first gift card for sale in 1996, and they were one of the first retailers to begin creating designs and innovations of the gift card.
1997 — Kmart is the first discount retailer to begin selling gift cards. In a partnership with AT&T, the Kmart Cash Card was used as a gift card and also as a phone calling card.
1999 — Target joins the mix by beginning to sell gift cards and became the leader in design innovation.
Gift card sales grew from $19 billion in 1999 to $37 billion in 2002.
2001 — Starbucks creates its first gift card, establishing itself as the most successful gift card program in the world.
Gift card design by retailers becomes all the rage. Home Depot once made a card that doubled as a tape measure, Best Buy created a gift card with built-in headphones and speakers, and last year Target had gift cards that look like toys, as well as “GiftCoins” and a “GiftSticker.”
Present day — Racks selling gift cards from various retailers are displayed in supermarkets and convenience stores. Shoppers are regularly buying both physical and virtual gift cards online. Consumers can buy gift cards at huge savings and sell gift cards for cash (or other value) on PlasticJungle.com!

Academy Award Nominations 2010

Kathryn — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 22:16:00 +0000

It is officially award season! With the Grammy’s airing last week and the Oscars just around the corner, Plastic Jungle is helping you save money while you catch up with all of your favorite stars.

With only 33 days remaining until the Academy Awards, many of us who watch every nominated film are finding ourselves a bit behind this year. Plastic Jungle is here to help you save on tickets to your favorite theater, movie rentals, and concession snacks!

In addition to bringing you discounted theater and movie rentals gift cards, Plastic Jungle can help you save at many other top retailers. Check out our site for a full selection of discounts and savings!

Remember, March 7th is Oscar Day – there is not much time to catch all of this year’s nominees!

Save up to 10% with a Regal Cinema Gift Cards.

If you are running short on time and cash, with a Fandango Gift Card you can walk into the movie with a 9% savings.

For the movies that are already on DVD, a Blockbuster Gift Card can do the trick. Enjoy a night on the couch, knowing you have extra dollars in your pocket.

Do any of the nominations surprise you? Share your reactions with us below!

The following list was provided by Variety.

BEST MOTION PICTURE OF THE YEAR
“Avatar”
(20th Century Fox) A Lightstorm Entertainment Production; James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
“The Blind Side”
(Warner Bros.) An Alcon Entertainment Production
Nominees to be determined
“District 9″
(Sony Pictures Releasing) A Block/Hanson Production; Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
“An Education”
(Sony Pictures Classics) A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production; Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
“The Hurt Locker”
(Summit Entertainment) A Voltage Pictures Production; Nominees to be determined
“Inglourious Basterds”
(The Weinstein Company) A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production; Lawrence Bender, Producer
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
(Lionsgate) A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production
Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
“A Serious Man”
(Focus Features) A Working Title Films Production; Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
“Up”
(Walt Disney) A Pixar Production; Jonas Rivera, Producer
“Up in the Air”
(Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) A Montecito Picture Company Production; Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE
Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
George Clooney in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Colin Firth in “A Single Man” (The Weinstein Company)
Morgan Freeman in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE
Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.)
Helen Mirren in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Carey Mulligan in “An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia” (Sony Pictures Releasing)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Matt Damon in “Invictus” (Warner Bros.)
Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones” (DreamWorks in association with Film4, Distributed by Paramount)
Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)

PERFORMANCE BY AN ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE
Penélope Cruz in “Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight)
Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)

ACHIEVEMENT IN DIRECTING
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
James Cameron
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
Kathryn Bigelow
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
Quentin Tarantino
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate)
Lee Daniels
“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)
Jason Reitman

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE FILM
“Coraline” (Focus Features)
Henry Selick
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox)
Wes Anderson
“The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney)
John Musker and Ron Clements
“The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS)
Tomm Moore
“Up” (Walt Disney)
Pete Docter

ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
“District 9″ Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (Sony Pictures Releasing)
“An Education”Screenplay by Nick Hornby (Sony Pictures Classics)
“In the Loop” Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche, (IFC Films)
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher (Lionsgate)
“Up in the Air” Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios)

ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
“The Hurt Locker” Written by Mark Boal (Summit Entertainment)
“Inglourious Basterds” Written by Quentin Tarantino (The Weinstein Company)
“The Messenger” Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
“A Serious Man” Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen (Focus Features)
“Up” Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter. Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy (Walt Disney)

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
“Ajami” (Kino International) An Inosan Production
Israel
“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Haddock Films Production
Argentina
“The Milk of Sorrow” A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production
Peru
“Un Prophète” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production
France
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production
Germany

ACHIEVEMENT IN ART DIRECTION
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg
Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics)
Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro
Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company)
Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.)
Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition)
Art Direction: Patrice Vermette
Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

ACHIEVEMENT IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Mauro Fiore
“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.) Bruno Delbonnel
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Barry Ackroyd
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Robert Richardson
“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) Christian Berger

ACHIEVEMENT IN COSTUME DESIGN
“Bright Star” (Apparition) Janet Patterson
“Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics) Catherine Leterrier
“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus”
(Sony Pictures Classics) Monique Prudhomme
“Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Colleen Atwood
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Sandy Powell

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND MIXING
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment)
Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company)
Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment)
Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount)
Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

ACHIEVEMENT IN SOUND EDITING
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Wylie Stateman
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

ACHIEVEMENT IN VISUAL EFFECTS
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox)
Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing)
Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment)
Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

ACHIEVEMENT IN MAKEUP
“Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box) – Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) – Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) – Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SCORE)
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) – James Horner
“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) – Alexandre Desplat
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) – Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) – Hans Zimmer
“Up” (Walt Disney) – Michael Giacchino

ACHIEVEMENT IN MUSIC WRITTEN FOR MOTION PICTURES (ORIGINAL SONG)
“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) – Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) – Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36″ (Sony Pictures Classics) – Music by Reinhardt Wagner, Lyric by Frank Thomas
“Take It All” from “Nine” (The Weinstein Company) – Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight) – Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

ACHIEVEMENT IN FILM EDITING
“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) – Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) – Julian Clarke
“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) – Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) – Sally Menke
“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) – Joe Klotz

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
“Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) A Magic Hour Films Production; Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
“The Cove” (Roadside Attractions) An Oceanic Preservation Society Production; Nominees to be determined
“Food, Inc.” (Magnolia Pictures) A Robert Kenner Films Production; Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers” A Kovno Communications Production; Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
“Which Way Home” A Mr. Mudd Production; Rebecca Cammisa

BEST DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT
“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province” – A
Downtown Community Television Center Production; Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner” – A Just Media Production; Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” – A Community Media Production; Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
“Music by Prudence” – An iThemba Production; Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
“Rabbit à la Berlin” – (Deckert Distribution) An MS Films Production; Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
“The Door” (Network Ireland Television) An Octagon Films Production
Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
“Instead of Abracadabra” (The Swedish Film Institute) A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production
Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
“Kavi” A Gregg Helvey Production
Gregg Helvey
“Miracle Fish”(Premium Films) A Druid Films Production
Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
“The New Tenants”A Park Pictures and M & M Production
Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
“French Roast” A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production
Fabrice O. Joubert
“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” (Brown Bag Films) A Brown Bag Films Production
Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production
Javier Recio Gracia
“Logorama”(Autour de Minuit) An Autour de Minuit Production
Nicolas Schmerkin
“A Matter of Loaf and Death”(Aardman Animations)
An Aardman Animations Production
Nick Park

Plastic Jungle Blog » Blockbuster Gift Card

The Fascinating History Behind the Gift Card

Academy Award Nominations 2010