![1904 denmark1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/1904_denmark1.jpg)
Christmas seals are labels placed on
mail
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sys ...
during the
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
season to raise funds and awareness for charitable programs. They have become particularly associated with lung diseases such as
tuberculosis
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease usually caused by '' Mycobacterium tuberculosis'' (MTB) bacteria. Tuberculosis generally affects the lungs, but it can also affect other parts of the body. Most infections show no symptoms, i ...
, and with child welfare. Christmas seals are regarded as a form of
cinderella stamp
In philately, a cinderella stamp is "virtually anything resembling a postage stamp, but not issued for postal purposes by a government postal administration". There is a wide variety of cinderella stamps, such as those printed for promotional ...
in contrast with
Christmas stamp
A Christmas stamp is a postage stamp with a Christmas theme, intended for use on seasonal mail such as Christmas cards. Many countries of the world issue such stamps, which are regular postage stamps (in contrast to Christmas seals) and are usu ...
s used for postage.
Origins
![Einar Holbøll by Juncker-Jensen](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8f/Einar_Holb%C3%B8ll_by_Juncker-Jensen.jpg)
At the beginning of the 1900s tuberculosis was a greatly feared disease, and its harmful effects on children seemed particularly devastating.
In 1904, Einar Holbøll, a
Danish
Danish may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to the country of Denmark
People
* A national or citizen of Denmark, also called a "Dane," see Demographics of Denmark
* Culture of Denmark
* Danish people or Danes, people with a Danish a ...
postal clerk developed the idea of adding an extra charitable stamp on mailed holiday greetings during Christmas. The money raised could be used to help children sick with tuberculosis.
The plan was approved by the Postmaster and the King of Denmark (
Christian IX
Christian IX (8 April 181829 January 1906) was King of Denmark from 1863 until his death in 1906. From 1863 to 1864, he was concurrently Duke of Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenburg.
A younger son of Frederick William, Duke of Schleswig-Holstei ...
).
In 1904, the world's first Christmas seal was issued, bearing the likeness of the Danish Queen (
Louise of Hesse-Kassel
da, Louise Wilhelmine Frederikke Caroline Auguste Julie
, succession = Queen consort of Denmark
, image = Louise of Hesse-Kassel.jpg
, reign = 15 November 1863 – 29 September 1898
, spouse =
, issue =
, house = ...
) and the word ''Julen'' (
Christmas
Christmas is an annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people around the world. A feast central to the Christian liturgical year ...
). Over 4 million were sold in the first year at
DKK 0.02 per seal.
![Hotel Koldingfjord - Denmark](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d3/Hotel_Koldingfjord_-_Denmark.jpg)
During the first six years, enough funds were raised to build the Christmas Seal Sanatorium in
Kolding
Kolding () is a Danish seaport located at the head of Kolding Fjord in the Region of Southern Denmark. It is the seat of Kolding Municipality. It is a transportation, commercial, and manufacturing centre, and has numerous industrial companie ...
, which was opened in 1911.
The same year the sanatorium was transferred to the administration of the Danish National Association to Combat Tuberculosis as it was considered a waste of resources to have two organisations working towards the same purpose.
The Danish Christmas Seal Committee – today known as Julemærkefonden (the Christmas Seal Fund) - decided at that time to put all future collected funds to use in building and operating convalescent homes for children.
In Europe
Soon after Denmark issued the first Christmas seal,
Sweden and
Iceland
Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
followed.
Seals then spread throughout
Scandinavia
Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Swe ...
and every major country in Europe, and are still popular today. Christmas seals have been issued by hundreds of different societies, nationally, and locally in Asia, Africa, North and South America, and Australia. The majority of all TB seals since then were issued at Christmas time and included the international symbol against TB, the double barred
Cross of Lorraine
The Cross of Lorraine (french: Croix de Lorraine, link=no), known as the Cross of Anjou in the 16th century, is a heraldic two-barred cross, consisting of a vertical line crossed by two shorter horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizon ...
.
In the United States
![1914 Christmas Seal](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/06/1914_Christmas_Seal.JPG)
They were introduced to the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
by
Emily Bissell
Emily Perkins Bissell (May 31, 1861 – March 8, 1948) was an American social worker and activist, best remembered for introducing Christmas Seals to the United States.
Born in Wilmington, Delaware, she made a name for herself at a young age as t ...
in 1907, after she had read about the 1904 Danish Christmas seal in an article by Danish-born
Jacob Riis
Jacob August Riis ( ; May 3, 1849 – May 26, 1914) was a Danish-American social reformer, "muckraking" journalist and social documentary photographer. He contributed significantly to the cause of urban reform in America at the turn of the twen ...
, a
muckraking
The muckrakers were reform-minded journalists, writers, and photographers in the Progressive Era in the United States (1890s–1920s) who claimed to expose corruption and wrongdoing in established institutions, often through sensationalist publ ...
journalist and photographer.
Bissell hoped to raise money for a
sanitarium on the
Brandywine Creek in
Delaware
Delaware ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Maryland to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and New Jersey and the Atlantic Ocean to its east. The state takes its name from the adjacent Del ...
. Bissell went on to design a Delaware local Christmas seal in 1908. Local Christmas seals have existed alongside national issues in the US since 1907, and are catalogued by the
Christmas Seal & Charity Stamp Society
The Christmas Seal & Charity Stamp Society is a non-profit philatelic organization devoted to collecting Christmas seals, charity labels, fundraising seals, charity stamps and semi-postal postage stamps where part of the cost of the stamp goes to c ...
.
By 1908, Bissell's idea grew to a national program administered by the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis (NASPT) and the
American National Red Cross
The American Red Cross (ARC), also known as the American National Red Cross, is a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education in the United States. It is the desi ...
. The seals were sold in post office lobbies,
initially in Delaware at US$0.1 each. Net proceeds from the sales would be divided equally between the two organizations. By 1920, the Red Cross withdrew from the arrangement and sales were conducted exclusively by the NASPT, then known as the National Tuberculosis Association (NTA). Various promotional schemes were tried: in 1954 the small town of
Saranac Lake, New York
Saranac Lake is a village in the state of New York, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 5,406, making it the largest community by population in the Adirondack Park. The village is named after Upper, Middle and Lower Saran ...
(home of the
Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium
The Adirondack Cottage Sanitarium was a tuberculosis sanatorium established in Saranac Lake, New York in 1885 by Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau. After Trudeau's death in 1915, the institution's name was changed to the Trudeau Sanatorium, followi ...
) won a nationwide competition selling Christmas seals, the reward for which was hosting the world premiere of the
Paul Newman film ''
The Silver Chalice''; the cast participated in a parade in the town's annual
winter carnival
Winter is the coldest season of the year in polar and temperate climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Different cultures d ...
.
![Cartoon_of_man_pasting_Christmas_seals_on_package_while_woman_brings_more_gifts](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/04/Cartoon_of_man_pasting_Christmas_seals_on_package_while_woman_brings_more_gifts.png)
After
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
with the development of the antibiotic
streptomycin
Streptomycin is an antibiotic medication used to treat a number of bacterial infections, including tuberculosis, ''Mycobacterium avium'' complex, endocarditis, brucellosis, ''Burkholderia'' infection, plague, tularemia, and rat bite fever. F ...
TB became a curable disease, although it would be decades before it could be considered under control in developed countries. To reflect the expanding scope of the organization's goals, the name was changed to the National Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association in the late 1960s. The NTRDA became the
American Lung Association
The American Lung Association is a voluntary health organization whose mission is to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research.
History
The organization was founded in 1904 to figh ...
in 1973, though the 1974 seals continue to show the NTRDA inscription on the sheet margin.
The Christmas song,
Mistletoe and Holly
"Mistletoe and Holly" is a 1957 Christmas song recorded and co-written by Frank Sinatra. The song was released as a single on Capitol Records. The lyrics discuss some of the traditions of celebrating Christmas: giving the tree the trim, carols ...
(1957) was selected as the theme song for the 1960 Christmas Seals appeal.
Today the Christmas seals benefit the
American Lung Association
The American Lung Association is a voluntary health organization whose mission is to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through education, advocacy and research.
History
The organization was founded in 1904 to figh ...
and other lung related issues. Tuberculosis was declining, but recently has been on the rise. TB is still one of the most common major infectious diseases in the world.
In 1987 the American Lung Association acquired a trademark for the term "Christmas Seals" to protect their right to be the sole US national fundraising Association to issue them. Of course, this trademark would not apply to Christmas seals issued outside the US or local and regional Christmas seals, used in the US by many organizations since 1907 when the Kensington Dispensary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, issued their own local Christmas seal.
In Canada
By 1908, the campaign had reached Canada. Interested people in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...
and
Hamilton Hamilton may refer to:
People
* Hamilton (name), a common British surname and occasional given name, usually of Scottish origin, including a list of persons with the surname
** The Duke of Hamilton, the premier peer of Scotland
** Lord Hamilt ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...
began Christmas seal campaigns to build and support sanatoria, as TB hospitals were then called.
The ''
Toronto Globe
''The Globe'' was a newspaper in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, founded in 1844 by George Brown as a Reform voice. It merged with '' The Mail and Empire'' in 1936 to form ''The Globe and Mail''.
History
''The Globe'' is pre-dated by a title of the sa ...
'' came promptly to their aid. Early in December, the ''Globe'' began running a daily story on the front page giving news of the campaign. The column was bordered by holly so that readers could easily spot it.
One story told how the children of 58 Toronto schools had sold 10,000 Christmas seals. Another issue announced that out in
Regina,
Saskatchewan
Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
another paper, the ''
Regina Leader'', had written to say its staff would sell the seals and send the money back for the sanatorium being built in
Muskoka.
From
Saint John,
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
, the Rev. G. A. Moore wrote to say that he and other volunteers would sell 8,500 and send the money to Toronto for the sanatorium.
That first year, the Toronto campaign brought in $6,114.25 and Hamilton citizens gave $1,244.40.
Year by year, other cities across Canada tried the Christmas seal campaign as a means not only of raising money but of creating the awareness that tuberculosis could be controlled.
Finally, in 1927, it was agreed that the Christmas seal campaign was to be the official method for tuberculosis associations to appeal to the public for funds. A national seal was established.
Christmas seal campaigns have played an important role in public health. At first, the money raised was used for the new and badly needed sanatoria. When these were established, Christmas seal funds were used for TB prevention. The seals have paid for millions of Canadians to have chest X-ray or tuberculin tests. As a result, thousands of TB cases were discovered before disease spread to others.
The
Canadian Lung Association
The Canadian Lung Association (CLA; french: Association pulmonaire du Canada) is a national organization and volunteer-based health charity that supports lung health research, education, prevention of disease/disorders and advocacy in Canada.
Beg ...
's Christmas seals continue to symbolize the grassroots support of Canadians that helped win the fight against TB.
Other countries
There are nearly one hundred different lung associations worldwide that issue Christmas seals. Many different countries issue their own Christmas seals, as well as cities, states and territories. Green's Catalog, the bible of US and worldwide TB Christmas seal collecting would distinguish them as national versus local Christmas seals. Many tuberculosis seal issuing societies are members of the International Union against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, which holds a Christmas seal contest for best design among their Organizational and Constituent seal issuing members at their annual World Conference on Lung Health.
Unrecognised seals
Between 1937 and 1943 the
Danish Nazi Party (DNSAP) issued a variety of seals featuring the
Nazi
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...
swastika.
These scarce seals contain Christmas themes like
holly
''Ilex'' (), or holly, is a genus of over 570 species of flowering plants in the family Aquifoliaceae, and the only living genus in that family. ''Ilex'' has the most species of any woody dioecious angiosperm genus. The species are evergreen o ...
, but no known connection to the fight against tuberculosis, and for this reason, they are not listed in
Green's Catalog.
History has shown that most dictatorial regimes suspend Christmas seals from being issued. This happened in Korea under the Japanese occupation, China under the communists, and Argentina under
Eva Peron
Eva or EVA may refer to:
* Eva (name), a feminine given name
Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters
* Eva (Dynamite Entertainment), a comic book character by Dynamite Entertainment
* Eva (''Devil May Cry''), Dante's mother in ...
.
Many other charitable funds were issued at Christmas time, often with Christmas themes, by religious organizations, civic and fraternal societies, patriotic organizations, sororities, etc., but since they were not issued to fight tuberculosis, they lack the double barred cross of Lorraine, the international symbol for the fight against tuberculosis, proposed in 1902 at the International Conference on Tuberculosis in Berlin Germany, and strictly speaking do not qualify as Christmas seals.
See also
*
MV Christmas Seal
M/V ''Christmas Seal'' was a Canadian medical ship operating in Newfoundland from 1947 until 1970. Formerly a United States air-sea rescue vessel during World War II, she later served as an oceanographic research platform before sinking in 1976.
...
*The
Christmas Seal & Charity Stamp Society
The Christmas Seal & Charity Stamp Society is a non-profit philatelic organization devoted to collecting Christmas seals, charity labels, fundraising seals, charity stamps and semi-postal postage stamps where part of the cost of the stamp goes to c ...
*
Easter Seals A charitable organization for helping handicapped children.
*
Easter seals (philately)
An Easter seal is a form of charity label issued to raise funds for charitable purposes. They are issued by the Easterseals charity in the United States, and by the Canadian Easter Seals charities.
Easter seals are applied to the front of mail ...
Easter seals in stamp collecting.
References
External links
The Christmas Seal and Charity Stamp SocietyA non profit organization founded in 1931, publishing catalogs of worldwide fund raising seals including Christmas and Easter seals, as well as a quarterly journal, Seal News.
The Cinderella Stamp ClubAnnual Christmas Seal Contest at World Conference on Lung Health, the convention of the International Union against TB & Lung Disease
{{Christmas
Seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to imp ...
Philatelic terminology
Cinderella stamps
Danish inventions
American Lung Association