Precious Moments is widely known as a series of collectible porcelain bisque figurines. The original artwork was created by the American illustrator, Sam Butcher in the 1970s. His artworks depict young children, and are often accompanied by inspirational messages which are also found on the products.

Alongside Spain's Lladro and Germany's M.I. Hummel, Precious Moments is one of the few porcelain figurine brands still alive in the 21st century. It is also the brand name for a series of giftware and collectibles licensed by Precious Moments, Inc (a.k.a. PMI) based on the same artworks by Sam Butcher.

Some have observed similarities in design with Margaret Keane's paintings of waifs or with Japanese Anime with their large sorrowful eyes.

General

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Precious Moments is a lifestyle brand created by artist Sam Butcher. His simple illustrations of children with teardrop shaped eyes include messages of heartfelt endurance and inspiration. Products derived from these illustrations (by license) are called "Precious Moments". Christian themes appear throughout his work, as Butcher is a born-again Christian.

The flagship product of the brand is the "Precious Moments^TM Porcelain Bisque Figurines" that is being sold since 1977. At its peak, this world-famous product line has seen forty times the sales of the next-best selling Precious Moments product line (Enesco). In the 21st century, Precious Moments is known as one of the few brands that mainly deal in porcelain figurines besides Lladro and Hummel.

It (Precious Moments, Inc. a.k.a. PMI) is also the name of the company that maintains and licenses copyrighted material pertaining to the designs by Sam Butcher. The company was incorporated in 1989 to answer to the increased demands of the Precious Moments characters and themes - yet 80% of the royalties collected was from its licensee Enesco Corp. for their porcelain products.

Also, the same year, Sam Butcher used his profits from PMI to build his longtime dream - a chapel in Carthage, Missouri. Honored as the father of Precious Moments, he appears at some events in Carthage and occasionaly at large scale collector club events, like those which took place in May of 2005 in Hawaii for the club's 25th anniversary. Sam Butcher currently resides in the Philippines and spends little time in the US.

Figurines

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The story of how Precious Moments became porcelain figurines is familiar to many collectors, yet vague on detail and there exists many inaccuracies. What is known to be the status quo story is that Gene Freedman, founding chairman of Enesco, Corp., found Sam Butcher and then convinced Sam to have Yasuhei Fujioka, a Japanese sculptor, bring life to the children as three dimensional figurines.

The beginning

Precious Moments is well known for the porcelain figurines sold by Enesco Corp. since 1977. Sam Butcher originally started scribbling the now famous children with tear-drop shaped eyes on cards and letters to friends and families. In the early days Butcher sold some greeting cards at Christian gift shows and flea markets along with his friend, but sales were meager and localized.

In 1975, Eugene Freedman, who worked for a gift company, befriended Butcher at a show. Freedman liked the characters, but he knew that his company had a late start on the greeting card business, thus needed something else - figurines.

Freedman searched for more than a year looking for a sculptor that could sculpt a figurine that satisfied Butcher's artistic tastes. In 1976, Freedman finally brought the artwork to Nagoya, Japan; where he had previous dealings with the owner and master sculptor, Yasuhei Fujioka.

Enesco

In 1958, Enesco was the import division for the N. Shure Company. When N. Shure was sold to Butler Brothers, the import division was spun-off. Founding President Gene Freedman took the acronym off of the N. Shure cargo, "N S Co" and phonetically named his company "EnEsCo". Thereafter, the company was sold three times, and in 1983 became a part of Stanhome, Inc. After separating from Stanhome in 1998, Stanhome immediately collapsed - leaving Enesco with all of Stanhome's assets.

Sam Butcher originally set up a company under the name of "Jonathan & David" with his friend Bill Biel to sell his artwork and greeting cards. After meeting Freedman, the porcelain figurines were sold under the Jonathan & David distributorship.

But during the mid 1980's (J&D under stamps can be found up until 1986), due to differences in business policies, Biel and Butcher dissolved Jonathan & David. Enesco took over the distributorship world wide from then on. Also around the same time, Butcher set up the "Sam Butcher Foundation" and "Precious Moments, Inc.".

Up until 1997, Enesco's sales for Precious Moments porcelain figurines continued to increase. The collectors' club started from 1980 also saw great increases in membership until then. Enesco was awarded many awards by NALED (National Association of Limited Edition Dealers) during its peak sales years. Freedman and Butcher were also awarded the "Industry Achievement Award" and the "Artist of the Year" respectively numerous times. In its highest sales year, 80% of Enesco's net sales consisted of Precious Moments porcelain figurines.

But by 2004, Enesco, Corp. posted an operating loss of $15.7 million US dollars. The sales of Precious Moments items plunged from a high of $206 million in 1996 to $55.7 million in 2004, a drop of $27.5 million from 2003. (Carthage Press 2005)

"Precious Moments revenues represented 22% of consolidated net revenues in 2004 compared to 33% in 2003," according to Enesco's 2004-2005 annual report.

In 2005 Precious Moments ended its business partnership and license arrangement with Enesco. Precious Moments currently oversees the distribution of its figurines and products, shipping products from its warehouses in Carthage, Mo.

Gene Freedman left Enesco in March of 2005, but has been named "Precious Moments Ambassador" by Precious Moments, Inc. There was an extravagant retirement dinner scheduled for him, but it quickly became an employment celebration after PMI's announcement.

In 2006, only a year after the departure of Precious Moments, Enesco's fourth president, Cynthia Passmore-McLaughlin (formerly of Revlon) resigned. With this, Jim Shore, the second best selling products after Precious Moments, dissolved its crontract with Enesco. Enesco's stocks fell below US $1.00 and was unlisted from the NYSE. After a few weeks of over the counter trading, Enesco withdrew its public offering altogether.

Historical Enesco President/CEOs

1. Eugene Freedman (retired)
2. Jeff Hutsell (resigned)
3. Dan Dalmolle (deceased)
4. Cynthia Passmore-McLaughlin (resigned)
5. Basil Elliot (current)

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RT @mcfrs: RT @usfire: #Christmas Tree Toppers Recalled by Precious Moments Due to Fire Hazard http://bit.ly/7NfUdK
kdawg1313 (Karen) Mon, 28 Dec 2009 14:00:07 -0000
RT @mcfrs: RT @usfire: #Christmas Tree Toppers Recalled by Precious Moments Due to Fire Hazard http://bit.ly/7NfUdK
RT @usfire: #Christmas Tree Toppers Recalled by Precious Moments Due to Fire Hazard http://bit.ly/7NfUdK
mcfrs (Mont. County(MD)Fire) Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:59:00 -0000
RT @usfire: #Christmas Tree Toppers Recalled by Precious Moments Due to Fire Hazard http://bit.ly/7NfUdK
RT @usfire: #Christmas Tree Toppers Recalled by Precious Moments Due to Fire Hazard http://bit.ly/7NfUdK
billdelaney (billdelaney) Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:59:00 -0000
RT @usfire: #Christmas Tree Toppers Recalled by Precious Moments Due to Fire Hazard http://bit.ly/7NfUdK
you know. its precious band twitter moments like these that really make me wish lazy butt had a twitter. obvs we havent rubbed off enough
SURPRISSEPICKLE (Nagase Tomoya) Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:26:20 -0000
you know. its precious band twitter moments like these that really make me wish lazy butt had a twitter. obvs we havent rubbed off enough
♪ 両手いっぱい菜の花にして / Precious Moments DISC01 Early Hearts 80's～90's (小森まなみ)
hyperdigipop (aruru) Mon, 28 Dec 2009 13:15:49 -0000
♪ 両手いっぱい菜の花にして / Precious Moments DISC01 Early Hearts 80's～90's (小森まなみ)
RT @usfire: #Christmas Tree Toppers Recalled by Precious Moments Due to Fire Hazard http://bit.ly/7NfUdK
hazmatmedic (HazMedic) Mon, 28 Dec 2009 12:52:26 -0000
RT @usfire: #Christmas Tree Toppers Recalled by Precious Moments Due to Fire Hazard http://bit.ly/7NfUdK

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