By age eight Hall was selling door-to-door with the company that eventually became Avon Products.

Hall's belief was that in the difficult economic straits of his widowed mother's family, he needed to add a postscript to his father's bible quote, "the Lord will provide"; it was, "It's a good idea to give the Lord a little help."

In 1905, Hall and his brothers invested US$540 to buy picture postcards to sell to store owners and other dealers around their area.

[1][2][3] After quitting high school in 1910, Hall moved to Kansas City, Missouri, with little more than two shoe boxes of postcards.

The store burned in 1915, and a year later, Hall bought an engraving business and began printing his own cards.

One of the results was Crown Center, a combination business/shopping district surrounding the Hallmark corporate headquarters.