133. Precious Moments Cat

Copyright 1998 Precious Moments

Samuel J. Butcher is an American artist. He is mainly known as the artist behind the Precious Moments brand of characters based on American-Christian themes. He draws in oil, water-color, acrylic, and mixed-mediums.
In 1974 he created the now-famous Precious Moments drawings for J&D, which was introduced to the market a year later. Before that, Butcher created many other pieces of work, from kitsch oil-paintings to comic strips. These works can be observed at the Precious Moments Chapel in Carthage, Missouri.
Some time before 1978, Sam met Eugene Freedman at a Christian trade show in Los Angeles, California. (Teepee 2005)
The three major products carried by J&D were greeting cards, porcelain figurines, and vinyl dolls. It was when J&D sourced the vinyl dolls in Asia that Sam fell in love with the Philippines. In 1981 Sam and Bill traveled to The Philippines, where they gave financial assistance to a Bible college. (Butcher, J. 2005)
It was after that time that Sam and Bill went separate ways. J&D relinquished its greeting card business, passed its porcelain products to Enesco, and abruptly stopped producing vinyl dolls. The doll business would be reborn as Precious Moments Country Dolls in 1989 - renamed Precious Moments Company Dolls in 1992. (PMC 2005)
With the success of the Precious Moments series, Butcher founded the Samuel J. Butcher Foundation and Precious Moments, Inc.(PMI). In 1989, he completed the construction of the Precious Moments Chapel. He privately funded the purchase of land on an island near Manila (Sampaguita Gardens in Aklan), and built a hotel resort. Through this resort Sam provides employment and training opportunities for people from Aklan and students from other provinces in Western Visayas.
Later in his adult life, he moved to St. Charles, Illinois and lived with his children.
Yet he began to spend more and more time in his resort in The Philippines as the success of Precious Moments rose. At the height of popularity, Sam fell ill due to strokes brought on by self-medicating - his children brought him back to the States, where he was diagnosed bipolar and treated. He then returned to the Philippines. (PMCOM 2005)

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132. Tender Tail Blue Bird

Precious Moments Foundation and Charity Mission

MISSION STATEMENT:

To glorify God through hope, promise, and celebration; to nurture, develop and encourage creativity; to provide children with the tools to explore the arts through charitable donations, volunteers and special projects.

PURPOSE OF THE PRECIOUS MOMENTS SUPPORTING FOUNDATION:

The Precious Moments Supporting Foundation is a non-profit, 501 (c )(3) organization with an emphasis on the arts. It is the Foundation’s purpose to enable children to recognize their God given gifts. Community involvement with churches, local schools, home school groups and other organizations is our primary focus. Creating events to include theater, song, dance and art will provide our youth an opportunity to explore and share their talents. Our facilities are available to the public for events and projects that coincide with the Foundation’s mission statement. The Precious Moments Supporting Foundation welcomes volunteers with a passion for the arts to assist in molding our youth fundamentally, socially and spiritually. To volunteer for an event, please contact us at chapel@preciousmoments.com.


THE PRECIOUS MOMENTS CHAPEL:

The Precious Moments Supporting Foundation is the sole support for the Precious Moments Chapel and grounds. To submit a tax deductible donation, please contact chapel@preciousmoments.com.

131. Tender Tail Dinosaur

Samuel John Butcher was born shortly after midnight in Jackson, Michigan on January 1, 1939. He was the third of five children who grew up in a very poor family. The family moved to Northern California when Sam was quite young, settling in rural Redding.

Most of Sam's childhood days were spent drawing and sketching under the dining room table. At a very early age his talent was recognized by both family members and friends, but because his family was so poor, drawing materials were hard to come by. But Sam was a clever child, and soon his favorite place was a factory dump near his home where he would search for rolls of paper to draw on.

Some of Sam's fondest memories are of his grandmother telling him Bible stories. He always had a deep interest in spiritual things and even from his earliest childhood, he painted scenes from the Bible. During his school years, he studied hard and won awards, but all of that was not enough to fill the emptiness and lack of fulfillment that he felt inside.

Then one night, in a country church, Sam heard the Good News of Salvation. He responded to the invitation and asked Jesus to come into his heart. Since that night, he decided to only use his talent for the Lord.

With his mother’s encouragement, he pursued formal art training following his high school graduation. He won a scholarship to the College of Arts & Crafts in Berkeley. Sam married his college sweetheart and the young family moved back to Michigan where Sam took a job in the shipping department of the Child Evangelism Fellowship. His first position as a real artist came when CEF promoted Sam to the art department. It was while there that he learned how to study the Bible and, as he did, he grew in grace and in the knowledge of the Lord. As he began to grow spiritually, so did his desire to reach out to people with a message of God's love.

To convey his message, Sam began drawing the endearing teardrop-eye children he called “Precious Moments” as for family and friends. Then, for several years, Sam was seen on television as the story illustrator for the inspiration children's program, Tree Top House, drawing his teardrop-eyed images to tell the story.

Precious Moments were introduced to the public in 1975 on inspirational greeting cards and posters, and in 1978 the first Precious Moments figurines were unveiled. But even the success of what he created did not satisfy Sam, because in his heart was a desire to honor the Lord by building the Precious Moments Chapel. Since the structure's initial completion in 1989, millions of visitors have come to admire his work and share his faith.

Sam has never forgotten his humble beginnings. Even though he is one of America's most beloved artists, he remains a quiet family man. Nothing means more to him than his children and grandchildren, and he takes advantage of every opportunity to make them an active part of his life and his work.

130. Tender Tail Owl

It all began more than thirty years ago, when Precious Moments® creator Sam Butcher began drawing the endearing teardrop-eye children he called "Precious Moments" as gifts for family and friends. Today, his Precious Moments artwork is among the most recognized art in the world, sharing messages of loving, caring and sharing with collectors from around the globe.

A man of deep personal faith and conviction, Sam demonstrated artistic talent at an early age and, encouraged by his Mother, he pursued formal art training following his high school graduation. His dedication earned him a scholarship to the College of Arts & Crafts in Berkeley.

In the early 1970s, Sam and a friend, Bill Biel, started a small company to produce his Precious Moments art on a line of cards and posters, calling their company Jonathan & David. They took their goods to the annual Christian Booksellers Association Convention in Anaheim and their tiny booth was filled with enthusiastic retailers wanting to order the new line. The crowd became so large that neighboring vendors came over to help the two young men write orders.

Shortly thereafter, Sam was approached by Enesco Corporation to develop a three-dimensional figurine based on his artwork titled “Love One Another.” Sam was so overwhelmed when he saw the first porcelain sample that he fell to his knees and wept. It was the beginning of a phenomenon for both Sam and the gift industry.

By the end of 1978, the first twenty-one original Precious Moments figurines were introduced to the market. The response to the collection was incredible. People began to write to Sam, telling him about how the Precious Moments figurines had touched their lives in a moving and heartfelt way. In less than a year after their introduction, demand was overwhelming. The success of the Precious Moments figurines was amazing, yet Sam never lost touch with his original purpose to create art which combined his heartfelt emotions with his abiding faith.

The collection is now well over 1,500 pieces with new introductions offered each year. Members of collector's clubs continue to be found throughout the world. Even more telling, since its opening in 1989, Precious Moments Park in Carthage, Missouri has welcomed approximately 400,000 visitors every year.

In 2005, a new chapter in the Precious Moments story began, as the collection “came home” to join the rest of the Precious Moments family at Precious Moments, Incorporated. No other collection has touched as many hearts as Precious Moments, and no other group of individuals has the same love and passion for this product line as the team at Precious Moments, Inc. We are more committed than ever to expanding the success and vision of the Precious Moments legacy.

129. Tender Tail Seal

Samuel John Butcher was born in Jackson, Michigan, the third of five children born to a poor family. Soon after, the family moved to Redding, California.
As a young man, Sam was a "chalkboard minister", spreading the teachings of Christianity through illustrations. This job paid very little, so Sam supplemented his income as a janitor.
With the guide of Rev. Royal Blue, Sam made the decision to follow deeper into Christianity. He joined the Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) in Grand Rapids, Michigan. There he met Bill Biel, with whom Sam would start his first business, Jonathan & David (J&D). During his ten year career with the CEF, Sam's work was seen by millions of people through the "Tree House Club" television programs.

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128. Tender Tail Pig

Illustrator Sam Butcher, together with his partner Bill Biel, sold greeting cards at Christian book fairs under the company name of Jonathan & David. They partnered with Enesco, Corp. to sell giftware. One such example is this cuddly Tender Tail Pig.
In 2004, PMI and Enesco decided to end the licensing contract. The early move was due to falling sales by Enesco.In addition to its original licensing duties, PMI's functions became product design, marketing, warehousing, and distribution.
In January 2006, Jon Butcher stepped down as president and CEO of PMI.
In 2008, PMI launched its new line of "Precious Girls Club" products. Soon thereafter, the company was sued by country music singer Shannon Clemmons for copyright infringement and breach of contract.

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127. Spider-Man

Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 (Aug. 1962). Lee and Ditko conceived of the character as an orphan being raised by his Aunt May and Uncle Ben, and as a teenager, having to deal with the normal struggles of adolescence in addition to those of a costumed crime fighter. Spider-Man's creators gave him super strength and agility, the ability to cling to most surfaces, shoot spider-webs using devices of his own invention which he called "web-shooters", and react to danger quickly with his "spider-sense", enabling him to combat his foes.



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