We are now approaching the end of yet another year and looking forward to 2013. I suppose many of my readers are now busily preparing for the Christmas season. One of the most important tasks is of course the preparation and mailing of the Christmas cards.
Today computers and cell phones have to a large extent replaced the traditional letter writing in many parts of the world. But luckily for the postal services many people still prefer to mail their Christmas greetings. A beautiful Christmas card received in the mail is certainly far more appreciated than an email or text message which probably gets deleted forthwith.
My wife has made a tradition of arranging all the Christmas cards as a collage in our hall. They certainly make for a beautiful exhibit to use a philatelic term.
In the 1800s and early 1900s, tuberculosis (TBC) was a dreaded disease. Many people lived in crammed accommodations and the hygienic conditions often left a lot to be desired. These were some of the reasons why the disease was a major health problem at the time. Special sanatoria were built to help the patients recover from the disease. Obviously there were great needs and many private initiatives were required to at least meet some of these.
We all remember the famous New South Wales charity stamps of 1897. With a postal value of 1d and 2Y2d respectively they sold for 11- and 2/6d with the difference going to a Consumptives’ Home.
One man who thought a lot about helping the TBC sufferers was Danish postmaster Einar Holb¢11. He had noted that it had become extreme! y popular to mail special greeting cards to wish friends and family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Holb¢11 ‘s idea was to have a special decorative seal printed to be used on the Christmas greetings. They should be placed next to the regular postage stamp. He also wanted the cost of the seals to be low enough to make them accessible to everyone.
In time for the 1904 Christmas mail, the seals were printed and marketed at post offices throughout Denmark. They were an immediate success and huge numbers of cards and letters had the seal added. As a consequence a substantial sum of money could be handed over to the hospital service.
The world’s very first Christmas seal depicted Queen Louise of Denmark. The idea of issuing Christmas seals then spread quickly to many other parts of the world.
Today the collecting of Christmas seals remains very popular in Denmark. There are Christmas seal study groups and the AFA Publishing Company produces a comprehensive catalogue of Nordic Christmas seals at regular intervals. Most Danish stamp dealers stock Christmas seals.
In 1904, Iceland was still part of Denmark and the first Icelandic Christmas seal was also released in that year. It depicts a falcon and has the word Caritas spelt with the letter C. It also has an overprint of a square in grey colour. This is a very scarce item today. The following year the same design was reissued but now spelt Karitas with the letter K. The original 1904 design was reissued in 1911 but it lacks the grey overprint.
Information about the Danish initiative quickly reached Sweden and a Christmas seal depicting a mother holding her little daughter was issued in 1904. The following year Sweden depicted King Oscar II and Queen Sofia on that year’s Christmas seal.
Norway also decided to use royalty on its first Christmas seal issued in 1906. It shows Queen Maud. The following year the very same design was repeated but in much larger size.
A couple of years ago a completely new catalogue-handbook covering all kinds of Norwegian Christmas seals was published. Norske Julemerker (Oslo 2010) is the work ofFinnAune and Vemund Lj~dal. In addition to much specialized information the catalogue has pricing in Norwegian kroner.
The Danish West Indies released its very first Christmas seal in 1907. Once again we find Queen Louise on a Christmas seal. Until1916 there was an annual Christmas seal from this Danish colony. It all ceased when the colony was sold to the USA.
Finland chose to depict an apple tree (“an apple a day keeps the doctor away”) on its very first Christmas seal in 1908. Finnish Christmas seals have been catalogued in detail in a book by Ake Berglund published by the Finnish Philatelic Federation. In English the book is called Christmas Seals of Finland (Vasa 1994). Pricing is in old Finnish marks.
In more recent times, Christmas seals have been released by the Faeroe Islands, Greenland and Åland.
I have limited my collection of Nordic Christmas seals from the beginning until about 1920. There are several reasons for this choice. The early seals were generally beautiful productions based on work by famous artists. Also many of the designs are very interesting.
Another important reason is the fact that during the first several years only one single seal was released each year. Later issues sometimes comprise as many as 50 different designs. These are best collected as complete mint sheets. Numerous collectors in Denmark specialize in complete mint sheets.
The postal instructions were not to cancel the Christmas seal (after all they have absolutely no postal significance). However, most philatelists who collect Christmas seals on cards or covers prefer them to be tied by a postmark.
You frequently find mint Christmas seals which lack gum. In all probability they were used but never cancelled. Catalogue prices for mint stamps are generally for unmounted mint. Mint no-gum Christmas seals are only worth a tiny percentage of the unmounted mint variety.
Collections and lots of Christmas seals can sometimes be picked up for a song at auction. This is the kind of sideline collection that can be started at very little cost.
Today tuberculosis is not the same problem that it used to be. Many countries still issue Christmas seals but they are sold in support of research into heart disease and similar health problems.
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