Rare Christmas Seals Find New Home With Lung Association

Once tucked away in a desk drawer, a rare collection of Christmas Seals will be displayed Tuesday for the first time at the American Lung Assn. of Los Angeles County headquarters.

The small spiral-bound book--containing every Christmas Seal since the campaign’s 1907 inception through 1994--was recently donated to the nonprofit group by Sierra Madre resident Sue Spears. Her great-aunt, Gwendolyn Jayne Hughes, compiled the book and gave it to Spears in 1984, two years before Hughes died.

Spears updated it annually until she ran out of pages a few years ago. Then, when she received a solicitation from the American Lung Assn. this fall, she contacted the organization to see if it wanted the book.

“I just thought it would be in better hands with them,” said Spears, who is director of operations for Local District C for the Los Angeles Unified School District in Van Nuys. “It’s pretty special. My great-aunt would be tickled to no end.”

Although worth only $300 to $500, the book chronicles the American Lung Assn.’s efforts to fight tuberculosis, asthma and other pulmonary diseases for nearly a century.

“It’s not the monetary value,” said Andrea Van Hook, spokeswoman for the American Lung Assn. of Los Angeles County. “It’s the nostalgia and the historical value. We’re honored to have the collection.”

A glance through the book shows how art design and cultural awareness changed in the United States during the 20th century.

“In the 1950s, if you saw any people [on the seals], they were always Caucasian,” Van Hook said. “In the 1970s, the seals took on a more multicultural feel.”

The association now also offers Hanukkah and Kwanzaa seals on the Web at https://www.christmasseals.org. This year, for the first time, a few Los Angeles residents got Hanukkah Seals as part of a pilot project that started two years ago in New Jersey.

The most valuable Christmas Seal in the collection is the one issued in 1908, a year after the campaign started and the first year it was available nationally. Emily Bissell borrowed the idea for the stamps from the Danes, who had sold Christmas seals to raise money to build tuberculosis hospitals for children.

When Bissell’s cousin, a physician, wrote her saying he needed $300 to keep his Delaware hospital open, she borrowed $40 to print 50,000 seals that were issued by the American Red Cross and sold in local post offices for a penny each. Another round of seals was printed, and $3,000 was raised that first year.

In 1920, the campaign was taken over by the National Tuberculosis Assn., the precursor to the American Lung Assn.

Now the campaign raises more than $17 million nationally, including $600,000 in Los Angeles County, officials said.

The book, as well as 25 posters of previous celebrity chairpersons, will be displayed from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday at the association’s offices at 5858 Wilshire Blvd. Plans are being considered to put the book on permanent display.