Postcard History

Many of us look forward to receiving Christmas cards from friends and relatives who we do not see on a regular basis. We who collect Christmas greetings know how these cards are beautiful reminders of holiday scenes from the past or are current photos reminding us of how people have changed and have grown with the passage of another year.

As collectors, many of us have our eyes open for other items that may make a very nice postcard even nicer! Christmas Seals and other types of specialty seals (or stamps) added to the envelope or postcard make it like another present to those of us who collect such items.

Here are a few examples of Christmas Sealed postcards from years gone by. Having the seal tied to the stamp cancellation is the most sought after but any addition to the card is considered a bonus.

Another good reason to check out the holiday postcards at any show you attend.

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This card is a favorite and my most valuable postcard. It is a very plain card with a sincere message addressed to Laurel Springs, New Jersey. It was cancelled December 22, 1915, at Philadelphia, and it has a hard-to-find 1915 American Red Cross Seal tied to the cancellation!

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This is an earlier example of a rather plane postcard cancelled at Berkeley, California on December 18, 1909. It was on its way to Alaska. It has a beautiful American Red Cross Seal that enjoins holly leaves and berries atop banners with Christmas and New Year greetings. The seal is not tied to the cancellation, but its rarity makes it a very special card.

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Here is another very nice postcard sent from Scottdale, Pennsylvania, on December 22, 1920. It features the new National Tuberculosis Association symbol along with a Merry Christmas (1920) greeting. This postcard has the seal tied to its cancelation.

[Editor’s note: Dents Run is a very secluded place of perhaps a dozen families in Benezette Township, Elk County, in north-central Pennsylvania. A one-lane road (with a 10-ton weight limit) leads to the village that is notched about a half-mile north of Pennsylvania State highway 555. Dents Run is known for its legendary connection to a lost shipment of Civil War-era gold, which has intrigued treasure hunters and the media for more than a century. The FBI conducted an excavation in 2018 at Dents Run, but they claimed to find nothing significant.]

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This Christmas greeting is from Santa Cruz, California, and is dated December 23, 1914. This card has a nice 1-cent (Scott 395) stamp in a perfect corner position and a 1914 America Red Cross Seal. Unfortunately, the seal is not tied to the cancellation, but it is still rare and hard to find.

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Here is a 1939 National Tuberculosis Association seal.

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And finally, we have a 1920 N. T. A. seal wishing the world a healthy new year, from La Habra, California, (an eastern suburb of Los Angeles). It is the same seal as is on the card mailed to Dents Run. Even though the seal has been added to the card in a rather careless inverted manner and it was separated from its neighboring seal by an ugly tear, it is still a great collectable.

Happy Collecting and Merry Christmas,

Shav