Cinderella Time: A Seal Rarity By Christer Brunström

Christmas seals were first issued in in 1904. They were colourful charity labels sold in time for the Christ- mas mails in support of tuberculosis suf- ferers. A hundred-plus years ago, this was a dreaded disease which brought untold suffering to its victims.

Many readers are undoubtedly familiar with a lady called Emily Bissell. She was instrumental in the introduction of the Christmas seal in the USA way back in 1907. When she learnt that a small hospital in Delaware needed at least $300 to be able to continue its treatment of TBC patients she remembered the Danish idea. She im- mediately went to work creating a design that included a red cross and the words Merry Christmas surrounded by ivy leaves. In all its simplicity it was a very handsome design. The seal was printed and sold by the Delaware section of the American Red Cross. Interest in the Christmas seal was very strong and sales were brisk. A sec- ond version including the words Happy New Year was also issued to further increase the sales after the Christmas holidays.

Issue 36 - December 6, 2013 - StampNewsOnline.net  If you enjoy this article, and are not already a subscriber, for $12 a year you can enjoy 60+ pages a month. To subscribe, email [email protected] Ms. Bissell’s initiative was a resounding success netting almost $4.000! In 1980, the U.S. Postal Service issued a commemorative stamp in honour of Emily Bissell (Sc. 1823, FDC page 1). The American Red Cross continued releasing Christmas seals until 1919. This explains why there is a red cross on all seals until that year. Collecting Christmas seals is quite a popular speciality. It is also a very inexpensive one (except for the first ten years or so). Most collectors tend to be satisfied with one seal from each year. Such a collection will only cost about $100 for the first 100 years. However, this is an area which lends itself to specialization as there are numerous varieties of many issues. Many collectors also like to add cards and covers with tied-on Christmas seals. In 1912, made his very first appearance on a U.S. Christmas seal. He has subsequently been featured on many other seals. By far the most interesting seals were issued in 1913. Designed by C. J. Budd and lithographed by the American Bank Note Co., the seal depicts Santa Claus in his sleigh being pulled by several reindeer through a snow- covered landscape on his way to deliver his Christmas gifts to the children of the world.

There are no less than three distinctly different varieties of this Christmas seal. The first variety (Scott WX11, left) has flowers and green circles around the red crosses at either side. This design was apparently deemed to be too cluttered. In the next variety, the Poinsettia flow- ers had been removed but the green circles were retained (Scott WX12, center). Finally there was a third variety

Issue 36 - December 6, 2013 - StampNewsOnline.net  where the green circles had been removed (Scott WX13, right, page 2, and magnified here). The labels with the Poin- settia flowers are the great rarities in a collection of American Christmas seals. They are currently valued at about $1,000 each, which of course explains why they can be found on most Christmas seal wants lists. When I discussed this particular item with a leading U.S. dealer in Christmas seals, he stated that only about 100 specimens are known to exist. He retails the stamp at prices ranging from $700 to $900 depending on the quality (on the rare occasions he has any copies in stock). WX12 and WX13 retail for only about $5-10 each de- pending on quality. Shown here are the three different types. Armed with this information, readers are encouraged to have another look at their holdings of old U.S. Christmas seals. Who knows where additional copies of this rarity may be lurking in old collections?

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Issue 36 - December 6, 2013 - StampNewsOnline.net