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By the end of the last century, the disease called tuberculosis was the most dreaded disease known to mankind. It was also known as "TB" or the "White Plague." As the disease worsened, its victims became pale in skin color, hence the term. Tuberculosis is a disease that is caused by a bacteria. It is spread from person to person by the inhalation of the germs in the air in which an infected person has coughed or sneezed. At that time, there was no cure for this terrible disease that was known for claiming the lives of its victims.
Makeshift sanitariums were put up in those days so the tuberculosis patients could be isolated and cared for. One such place was located in Delaware. Doctor Joseph Wales treated patients there,and he knew that the sanitarium had run out of the funds it needed to keep it going. So, he contacted his cousin, an active woman by the name of Emily Bissell. Bissell was an experienced fund-raiser for the American Red Cross. However, at this time, her quest at raising funds for the hospital was not successful. Finally, she remembered reading about how money was raised in Denmark for children who were afflicted with tuberculosis and decided to try the same method.
The story goes, that in December of 1903, a postman by the name of Einar Holboell was sorting a huge pile of Christmas mail inside a post office near Copenhagen. Holboell took a break from his work and looked out of the window. He spotted a young girl and a young boy who were trudging slowly through the snowy weather. All they had to protect them were the rags they were dressed in. This sight inspired the postman so much, that he came up with the idea of selling special stamps that could be put on every piece of mail in addition to the required postage. The stamps would be inexpensive too. And, the revenue collected from the sales of the stamps could be donated to help poor children.
The next year, over four million stamps were sold. Some of the money was used to help build hospitals to treat children who suffered from tuberculosis.
Bissell created her own Christmas stamp. She worked for the Red Cross, so the picture was a red cross in the middle of a half of a wreath of holly. Below the wreath, she wrote the words, "Merry Christmas." Bissell was successful in convincing the national headquarters of the American Red Cross to allow her to use its red symbol, and thus, the Christmas Seal was born in the United States.
In the year of 1907, the first Christmas Seals were sold at a fund-raising table which was located inside the Wilmington, Delaware post office. The sale made over three thousand dollars in revenue and the money was used to help in the fight against tuberculosis.
Since that time, the sales of Christmas Seals has become the official source of fundraising revenue for the battle against the tuberculosis disease. While it has not been completely eradicated, the disease is much less prevalent since the introduction of the BCG vaccine by the French scientists who developed it.
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