HINGHAM — From 100th birthdays to graduations to welcoming kids back to school, the 2-month-old business South Shore Yard Cards has already become a staple of pandemic-era celebrations. Using fully-customizable, 25-foot-wide yard signs with eye-catching colors and upbeat graphics, the Hingham-based business is helping locals celebrate milestones in a big way.

“It's like delivering happiness every day,” co-owner Liz West said.

South Shore Yard Cards was launched this July by Liz and Steve West, a husband and wife in Hingham. The cancellation of birthday parties, graduation ceremonies and other celebratory events brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has forced families across the world to get creative when it comes to marking major milestones, and the Wests noticed a trend of giant, celebratory lawn signs popping up in other parts of the country. A quick search told them no such thing existed yet in the region, and from there a small business was born.

“At first, you know, it was just people were starting to understand what it was, and then they loved it, and then the emails and everything just started flying in,” Liz West said.

Since then launching South Shore Yard Cards on July 4, the couple has delivered countless cards and are currently setting up about 15 displays per week out of the 20 to 25 weekly requests. While birthday greetings are their most popular request, they’re also starting to hear from more outside-the-box clients, such as real estate agents who want to welcome clients to new homes.

The weather-resistant yard cards are typically displayed for up to 24 hours and cost $85. Depending on the yard and the request, it can take anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour to set up the sign.

The Wests said one of their most memorable sign set-ups to date was for a Hull woman's 100th birthday at Hingham’s Harbor House Rehabilitation and Nursing Center.

“That was a lot of fun because it was [a] really different way to send a card, and that was one of our first ones in the beginning,” Liz West said.

The company also has tentative plans to set up "welcome back" signs at eight local schools.

Measuring 35 feet long, a recent graduation sign set up at a house on the water in Hingham was the largest display they’ve ever done. The wind was whipping around as Steve West tried to hammer the stakes into the ground. 

“And it held up pretty well,” said Steve. “They were down about three to four inches, the stakes, and there was like, I don’t know, maybe 20 mph winds.”

The signs have also been popular at birthday car parades, Liz West said, and kids have been able to stand behind their signs and wave as friends and family drive by.

Each yard card is unique and can be personalized to whatever the client wants, the West said, recalling the sign they set up for a man’s daughter with images of puppies, unicorns, rainbows and princesses. They can also customize signs in the 15-to-20 foot range for smaller yards.

Liz West said she loves getting emails with photos of clients’ reactions to the signs.

"Every day that we set up one, or he sets up one, somebody is waking up really happy and they know somebody made this grand gesture of sending a yard card," she said. "It’s really thoughtful.”

The signs sell themselves, Steve West said, and they get a great deal of business through word of mouth.

“It’s really nice in this year of 2020, when everybody talks about such negative stuff, that we’re able to just find some joy," Liz West said. “It’s a benefit to the customer, but also for us, which is good. We get a lot of joy out of it.”