[1] While still in the Air Force, in free time, Seton and his wife Phyllis started a part-time mail order business from their home, specializing in personalized Christmas cards for individuals with the surname 'Smith'.
In 1954, the service manager of a large Carrier Air Conditioning contractor in New Haven noticed one of the Setons' display boards and requested that they produce some specialized nameplates for his company.
[3] The nameplate business grew rapidly, and Seton added another line, mail-order sales of industrial products.
[4] In 1967, after years of reliance on flyers as their main source of marketing and advertising, the company published its first catalog, mailed to over 110,000 prospects.
[1] By 1974, the company's mailing list had grown to over one million, and the catalog boasted that Seton offered "America's most complete line of signs, decals, plaques, trophies, tags and labels.