by John Denune, Jr., published in Linn's Stamp News, 12-2007

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The year 2007 marks the 100th anniversary of United States Christmas Seals.A "Christmas

Seal" is the marriage of two independently existing ideas: a tuberculosis fundraising seal and a

label issued at Christmas time, during the season of giving and when the volume of mail is high.

Danish postal worker, Einar Holboll put these ideas together, resulting in the world's first

Christmas Seal issued in Denmark in 1904, picturing the deceased wife of the King of Denmark

(figure 1).

The world's first tuberculosis fundraising seal (Green's #297) was issued in Germany in 1897

by the People's Sanatorium of the Red Cross on Lake Grabow (figure 2). It was not issued at

Christmas time, it is not considered a "Christmas Seal".

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Holboll, honored on a 1927 Danish Christmas Seal (figure 3), appears on more seals worldwide

than anyone except for German Dr. Robert Koch, who in 1882 isolated the bacteria which caused

TB. He is honored on German local TB seal, #271. This seal, whose exact date is unknown, was

issued by The Society to Combat TB in East Prussia (figure 4).

Part of the groundwork for Koch's discovery was laid by French Dr. Jean-Antoine Villemin, who

in 1868 proved that TB was contagious and transmitted by contact. Villemin had a single piece of

the TB puzzle and his career may have come a little too early to get the recognition on seals that

Koch received. The only Seal which honored him was the 1951 French Christmas Seal (figure 5).

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Hot on the heels of Denmark's first Christmas Seal were Sweden's (figure 6) and Iceland's

(figure 7) Christmas Seals. All 3 were issued for the 1904 Christmas season. Iceland issued a very

similar Christmas Seal in 1911, which lacks the rectangular grey overprint coloring the falcon's

body. Norway and Argentina also released Christmas Seals before the United States did. Norway #1

1905 (figure 8) and

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#2 1906 (figure 9), which were issued by The Norwegian Women's Health Society. In the last

few years seals tied on cover by dated postmarks have confirmed that Norway #1 and #2 seals are

actually reversed, the larger seal (figure 9) preceded the smaller one (figure 8). This error

originated in old European publications. Another early TB seal, Argentina #1, was issued in 1906 by

the Charity Society of Buenos Aires (figure 10).

Back in the US, in 1904 the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis

was formed by Dr. Edward Livingston Trudeau and Dr. Lawrence Flick. Earlier, in 1892 Flick had

founded the Pennsylvania Society for the prevention of TB, the world's first society dedicated to

the prevention of TB. Trudeau was diagnosed with TB in 1871 and went to the Adirondacks to die,

but began to feel better and became convinced that rest, fresh air, sunshine, and good nutrition

could cure TB. His experiments on tubercular rabbits confirmed his theories. In 1884, he felt fully

recovered and opened the first sanatorium in the US, at Lake Saranac, NY. This "Little Red"

cottage is pictured on the 1934 US Christmas Seal (figure 11). Before I visited Little Red, I had no

idea how small it was, little bigger than one modern hospital room, it looked like a nice size child's

play house. Trudeau was the first president of the NASPT, which The American Lung

Association, our national Christmas Seal issuing society, traces its origin from.

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The NASPT also campaigned against public spitting because they knew that it could transmit

TB. In 1915 they began their Modern Health Crusade, modeled after a successful program in

Wisconsin, which educated children on TB through the Christmas Seal Campaigns. Depending on

their level of involvement, children received Crusader certificates, as well as buttons with various

ranks such as "Squire", "Knight" or "Knight Banneret" (figure 12). Chivalry (being polite) was not

dead, and the historical Crusades were still viewed through heroic fiction. Louis Caprario has just

finished a new book on US Christmas Seal Buttons, which is available from the Christmas Seal and

Charity Stamp Society.

Most Christmas Seals include the red double-barred cross of Lorraine (figure 13), adopted by

many countries as the international symbol of the effort to find a cure for TB. This cross was first

proposed in 1902 at the International Conference on TB in Berlin as the symbol of the "Crusade

against TB", and adopted by the NASPT in 1906. Added to our National Christmas Seals in 1919, it

and has been used ever since, however it has been getting very small on some recent issues and is

occasionally printed in black instead of red. The double barred cross was originally the coat of arms

of Godfrey of Bouillon, Duke of Lower Lorraine, a leader of the first crusade and elected ruler of

Jerusalem after its capture in 1099. Used in Godfrey's coat of arms, it was borrowed from the

Jerusalem or Patriarchal cross. Godfrey refused the title of King of Jerusalem, became the central

figure of legends, and his deeds were glorified in the French book, Chansons de Geste.

Now I shall turn the clock back to the first US Christmas Seal, which was issued in 1907. Emily

Bissell was approached by her cousin, Dr. Joseph Wales, who worked at the Brandywine Sanatorium

in the State of Delaware, with a plea to help the hospital stay open, "Unless $300 can be raised

somehow, the poor patients will have to be sent home to die...perhaps to spread the disease to

other people." Bissell, a social worker born in Wilmington, Delaware, had founded city's first public

kindergarten, wrote poetry and prose under the name Priscilla Leonard, was a volunteer at the Red

Cross, and fought at the state level to reform child labor.

After reading an article by Jacob Riis, who had six brothers die from TB, about the successful

sale of Denmark's first Christmas Seal, she decided to issue a Christmas Seal. Bissell borrowed

forty dollars from friends, designed and initially had 50,000 Christmas Seals lithographed on credit

by Theodore Leonhardt & Son Printing Company. Sales were weak at first, but after she acquired

free publicity from The North American, one of Philadelphia's largest newspapers, Christmas Seal

sales took off. Staff columnist, Leigh Mitchell Hodges wrote daily articles to promote the

cause.The campaign was endorsed by President Teddy Roosevelt and the seals sold out before

Christmas.A second type of seal, the type two, was printed, with "Happy New Year" added.

300,000 seals were printed in all, and sold for one cent each.

Sales for the 1907 Christmas Seal grossed $3,000, ten times the amount needed to save the

Brandywine Sanatorium. In 1908, the second year, $135,000 was raised from the Christmas Seal

sale. By 1916 the Christmas Seal sale surpassed one million dollars. Emily Bissell died in 1948, but

lived to see the 40th anniversary of US Christmas Seals, and was honored on a 1980 US

commemorative postage stamp, Scott #1823. Bissell was also honored, along with Leigh Mitchell

Hodges, Jacob Riis, and E. A. Van Valkenburg, editor-in-chief of The North American, on the

portrait seals in the center of the 1946 Christmas Seal sheet.

Tuberculosis was brought under control in most of the western world by the 1950's, and the

American Lung Association has branched out into medical research and education for other lung

diseases such as asthma, and emphysema. Far from being eradicated, TB claims about 2 million

lives a year worldwide, and one third of the earth's population is believed to be latently infected

with TB. Emily Bissell presenting a sheet of her 1907 type 1 seals to National Tuberculosis

Association Managing Director, Dr. B. Kendall Emerson on the 40th anniversary of Christmas Seals

in 1947. The first US Christmas Seal tied on cover or postcard by timely postmark, has become one

of the most prized Christmas Seal collectibles.

Our National Christmas Seal issuing society has changed their name over the years as follows:

1907 - American Red Cross, Delaware Chapter

1908 through 1910 - American Red Cross (nationally)

1911 through 1917 - Sponsored and publicized by the American Red Cross, but sold by the National

Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis

1918 - American Red Cross; given to those who joined the Red Cross Roll Call

1919 through 1968 - National Tuberculosis Association

1969 through 1972 - National Tuberculosis and Respiratory Disease Association

1973 onward - The American Lung Association.