Show Christmas Seal Idea Conceived By Danish Clerk Credit for conceiving the idea for Christmas seals belongs to a Danish postal clerk Einer who Vho in inthe inthe inthe the holiday season of 1903 was was sort sort- sorting sorting ing mail mall in the postoffice of Copen hagen As he went through the stacks of Christmas mail it occurred to him that if each sender bought a sticker and attached it to each package the proceeds would aid in infighting infighting infighting fighting tuberculosis and add color to the gifts He mentioned it to some of his fellow workers The scheme ap up appealed pealed to them and it was passed along through the office The clerks discussed it with customers The Tho Idea spread about Copenhagen and eventually King Christian heard about it The ruler approved and decided in favor of trying it with Queen Louises Louise's likeness on each ach stamp It was too late to put the idea into execution ex cution that year but in 1904 four million seals were sold ir in the Copenhagen postoffice So popular did the stamps become that Hol Hol- HolI I boell boen heard of one old woman who returned some letters without Christmas seals declaring ring em- em emphatically emphatically that she didn't want w t to know people who didn't use the I stamps A woman Miss Emily Bissel who worked with the Red Cross started the sale of seals in ir this country She was seeking for fora a little open air hospital for tuber tuber- tuberculosis tuberculosis tuberculosis patients She designed a stamp and persuaded friends to help with the printing and sale of them When the campaign bogged down she went to Philadelphia where she met Leigh Mitchell Hod Hod- Hodges Hodges Hodges a columnist for the Philadel Philadel- Philadelphia Philadelphia phia North American He heard Miss Bissells Bissell's plans and discussed them with E. E A. A Van Valkenburg city editor Van Valkenburg gave full approval and told Hodges to give the project his entire time He also asked for seals to be besold besold besold sold in the newspapers newspaper's office The Th campaign campa brought startling results Miss Bissell found she had instead of she had started to raise And the Christmas seal campaign became becam a nation nation- n nationwide wide institution |