“If each piece of mail were taxed but a pence, then considerable money could be raised for charity.” That’s what a 38-year-old Danish postal clerk, Einar Holbell, thought and dreamed while sorting mail in his country during the 1903 Christmas rush.
Denmark’s then-King Christian quickly approved Holbell’s idea. So, in 1904, they printed a picture of the late Queen Louise on each postage piece—called “julen-maerke,” or Christmas stamp, in Danish. It marked the issuance of the world’s first Christmas seal, and the idea spread like wildfire during the next several decades.
The next year, Sweden introduced and sold several million Christmas seals. Norway followed in 1906, then in the United States in 1907—just 81 years ago.
Money first raised by the sale of Christmas seals was used to control tuberculosis. Once considered fatal, TB led to thousands of deaths in 19th-century Europe and America.
Dr. Robert Koch, a German bacteriologist, had isolated the TB germ in 1882. Then in 1895, Roentgen discovered the X-ray, which made possible detection in man. But patients suffering from the dreaded disease needed long-term sanitarium-type facilities with plenty of fresh air, sun and rest.
Christmas seal sales brought in funds, making it possible to build these facilities. But over the years since 1907, the designs and uses of Christmas seals in the U.S. have changed, making the seals an interesting collectible item.
In the early 1900s, while reading his Christmas mail from abroad, Jacob Riis, an American journalist of Danish roots, noticed the julenmaerke on his envelopes. Several of Riis’s brothers had earlier died of TB, making Jacob more than just a little interested in the Danish Christmas stamps. So he wrote a widely-circulated story about them in 1907.
Emily Bissel, a Red Cross worker, saw the Riis story and readily understood how Christmas seals could be put to good work in the U.S. It wasn’t long before she sketched a wreath, added the greeting—”Merry Christmas”—and borrowed money to print 50,000 seals.
With their sale, Bissell hoped to raise the $300 needed by her doctor cousin to keep his small hospital open for TB patients. To her amazement, Emily raised not $300, but $3000 in her seal drive. For those early efforts Emily Bissell today is known as the “Grand Old Lady” of the American Christmas seal movement.
The following year, the American Red Cross agreed to print and market Christmas seals nationwide. In addition to bearing the greeting “Merry Christmas” and “Happy New Year,” the 1908 stamp bore the familiar emblem of this group—the red cross. The Christmas seal movement in the U.S.A., indeed, was then off and running.
From the surprising, but welcome, $3000 Emily collected in 1907, proceeds from the sales of Christmas seals have risen steadily over the years. Within a decade, Christmas seal fundraising reached almost $2 million.
Since 1920, Christmas seals have been printed and sold exclusively by the National Tuberculosis Association (now known as the American Lung Association). It annually nets $25 million and up to help eradicate various lung diseases. Beginning in 1920, U.S. Christmas seals consistently have used the double-barred Cross of Lorraine.
Through the various slogans printed on the seals’ selvages, a collector can follow the history of the seals’ fight against respiratory illnesses. In 1977, the selvage or stamp edges read, “Give for a healthier tomorrow.” Often repeated is the selvage slogan, “It’s a Matter of Life and Breath.”
Christmas seals continue to be sent unsolicited through the mails. Beginning in 1982, seal designs made a change to make the seals more interesting and useful to recipients. A sheet of 42 seals also included popular, practical mailing labels or tags. So now, we can buy and use both the seals and the handy labels.
After you’ve familiarized yourself with the history of America’s Christmas seals, you might want to turn your collectible attention to the Christmas seals efforts of other nations.
When it comes to love and charity, nothing succeeds better than success. Today, over 90 nations print and sell Christmas seals, after Einar Holbell in Denmark had his Christmas seal dream. It was Holbell who started it all, while sorting thousands of cards and letters during a holiday rush of yesteryear.
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