Portrait Christmas Seals

Portrait Christmas Seals have pictures of people famous in the fight against Tuberculosis, and other lung diseases. They were issued in 1938 and 1946. (Green's v1, p7)

The 1938 Portrait Seals were located in the four corners of the sheets and were different than the other ninety-six seals. The four portrait seals contained the images and names of four men active in furthering the work to eliminate TB.

Seal #1 shows an image of Dr. Rene Laennec of France, who in 1816 invented the stethoscope.

Seal #10 shows an image of Dr. Robert Koch of Germany, who in 1882 proved TB to be a germ born disease.

Seal #91 shows an image of Dr. Edward L. Trudeau of New York, who in 1885 established the first Umnited States TB sanatorium at Saranac Lake, New York.

Seal # 100 shows an image of Einar Holbell, the Danish postal clerk who in 1904 started the sale of Christmas Seals in Denmark.

The 1938 Portrait Christmas Seals are usually collected in blocks of four; one portrait seal with three regular seals.

The 1946 Portrait Christmas Seals were located in the center of the sheet. There were four portrait seals, and ninety-six normal seals in a sheet. The four portarit seals contained images of the people considered responsible for the sale of the first Christmas Seal in 1907.

Seal #45 - Jacob Riis, who first called attention to the 1904 Danish Christmas Seal and urged that the U.S. adopt the idea to raise funds to fight TB.

Seal #46 - Miss Emily Bissel, who designed the seal.

Seal #55 - E.A. Van Valkenburg, editor of the Philadelphia North American, the newspaper which publicized the seal.

Seal #56 - Leigh Mitchell Hodges, the man whose interest was aroused by Miss Bissell, and who wrote the articles which aroused public support for the sale of the first seals.

The 1946 Portrait Christmas Seals are usually collected in a block of sixteen (16) with twelve (12) normal seals.

Further, be sure to check out our supplies, catalogs, or album pages. Enjoy your collection.

William J Kozersky

Christmas Seal Printer's Marks

Recently I was asked to explain what Printer's Marks were, and where they could be found on a sheet of Christmas Seals.

Printer's Marks were first used in 1926. Because of the similarity of the seals, they were used by the National Tuberculosis Association to identify the printer. From 1926 through 1935, there were various marks utilized to identify the various printers (this will be covered in a future blog).

From 1936 to 1974 each printer used a letter to identify the sheets of seals which they had printed. This letter was usually placed on seal #56. From 1975 onward, where used, the Printer's Mark was usually located near the center of the sheet. An excellent source to determine the location of the printer's marks is Green's Catalog, Part 1, U.S. National Christmas Seals, and The Christmas Seal Catalog. Both are published by the CS&CSS, and available in our store.


For example, in 1951, Christmas Seals were printed by five different printers. The Printer's Mark (pm) used to identify the printers was located on seal #56. The Printer's Mark was a tiny black letter (E, S, D, U, and F).

The letter "E" identified Christmas Seals printed by Eureka Specialty Printing Co.; the letter "S" identified those seals printed by Strobridge Lithographing Co.; the letter "D" identified seals printed by Edwards and Deutsch Lithography Co.; the letter "U" identified those sheets of seals printed by the United States Printing and Lithograph Co.; and the letter "F" identified sheets of seals printed by the Fleming-Potter Co.

It should be noted that a Printer's Mark only identifies a sheet of seals, not individual seals, unless the mark appears on the seal.

Printer's Marks are one of the ways that Christmas Seals are collected. Many collectors collect full sheets of Christmas Seals, doing so by the Printer's Mark. A much more difficult way to collect by Printer's Marks would be to collect single stamps, or blocks, containing the Printer's Mark.

As you may have noticed, we do identify the sheets of Christmas Seals that we offer, by their Printer's Mark (pm). If you wish to collect single seals, or blocks of seals, with Printer's Marks, contact me.

Further, be sure to check out our supplies, catalogs, or album pages. Enjoy your collection.

William J Kozersky

Imperforate Christmas Seals

Imperforate seals or sheets have no perforations or rouletting at all. Imperforate seals or sheets were often proofs and essays.

Proofs are trial impressions of the design, but differ in color, perforation, sheet format, paper, etc. from the issued seal. Essays are trial proofs which are different from the accepted design. (Green v1, p7)

We just finished listing full sheets and collections of Imperforate Christmas Seals in our store.

We currently have Imperforate Chritsmas Seal Sheets from 1929 to 1977. Our selection of Imperforate Christmas Seal Collections cover the years 1929 to 1987.

The proper way to collect Imperforate Christmas Seals is as required or cataloged by the Green Catalog, Part 1, U.S. National Christmas Seals, or The Christmas Seal Catalog, both published by the CS&CSS. To further assist you with collecting Imperforate Christmas Seals, we also offer them individually in the pairs, blocks, or strips, as required.

Further, be sure to check out our supplies, catalogs, or album pages. Enjoy your collection.

William J Kozersky

Welcome To William J Kozersky Stamp Co.

We are an Internet based stamp dealer. We sell Christmas Seals, Easter Seals, Stamps, Topical Stamps, Pictorial Postmarks, USPS Souvenir Sheets, Crate Labels, and other philatelic material.
We wish that we could personally greet you at the door, as we would in a brick and mortar store. However, this medium prevents such a face to face meeting. Nonetheless, we invite you to look around and ask questions.
We are located in Southern California. All of our business is conducted over the internet through our two stores, or by phone. Our online stores are open 24 hours, 7 days a week, while our phone hours are 9am - 4pm, Pacific Time, Monday through Friday. Feel free to email us anytime.
My name is Bill Kozersky. I am a member of the APS, RPSC, FDCS, ATA, NDSCS, CPC, and the CS&CSS. I want to assure you that we stand behind our offers and will promptly refund if you are unhappy with your purchase. Feel free to post any of your questions and concerns. I will answer them as promptly as I can.
Check back frequently as over the next few days, I will further discuss the items we sell.
Bill Kozersky

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