History of Christmas Seals
The early 1900s found a fear of tuberculosis with good reason. Einar Holboll a postal clerk came up with an idea to add an extra charitable stamp on holiday greetings that were being mailed. The money raised would be used to help sick children who suffered from tuberculosis. The King of Denmark as well as the postmaster thought well of the idea and Christmas seals were created.
In the first year of Christmas seal over 4 million were sold. The early years of Christmas seals made enough money to build a sanatorium in Kolding in 1911. It would not take long before Sweden and Iceland followed Denmark and created their own Christmas seal program. Christmas seals have remained popular in every major Scandinavian country in Europe.
In 1907 Emily Bissell introduced Christmas seals to United States. The hopes was to raise money for a sanitarium in Delaware. Bissell's idea would grow and come to be administered by National Association for the Study and Prevention of T.B. and the American Red Cross. The Red Cross would later bow out of the Christmas Seals.
Christmas seals in America today benefit the American Lung Association and other lung related issues. Tuberculosis remains one of the most common major infectious diseases in the world.
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I remember these. I used to use the American Lung Associations when I was a kid on the back of the Christmas cards.
ReplyDeleteI remember seeing those come in the mail at my grandparents home and mine also through the years past
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