The American Lung Association Commemorates 100 Years Of Christmas Seals(R)

Main Category: Respiratory / Asthma
Article Date: 06 Dec 2007 - 4:00 PDT

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This year the American Lung Association is celebrating 100 years of Christmas Seals® by launching a new Christmas Seals(R) website, http://www.christmasseals.org. Visitors can send e-cards, download Seals images for children of all ages to color, view Christmas Seals® artwork from years past, and more.

Christmas Seals®, the decorative holiday stamps offered each year to millions of Americans, were created 100 years ago as a way to fight the then-incurable disease, Tuberculosis (TB). On this milestone anniversary, the campaign continues to honor the work started by volunteer Emily Bissell, bringing Christmas Seals(R) into the next century with all-new online offerings.

"Most Americans alive today have no vivid memories of how widespread deadly tuberculosis was before the 1950s, but it claimed entire families in this country, struck down people from all walks of life, often in their prime," said Norman Edelman, M.D., Chief Medical Officer of the American Lung Association.

Treatment options were being identified, both in America and Europe. Rest and good food in clean air was the prescription, but resources to pursue this treatment were scarce for many. Jacob Riis, a journalist best known as the author of How the Other Half Lives, pleaded in a newspaper article for someone in America to develop a stamp or seal like the ones he saw being sold in Denmark as a method of raising funds to provide treatment to those without means.

Emily Bissell, an American Red Cross volunteer from a prominent Delaware family, took up Riis' challenge. She designed the first Christmas Seal using the American Red Cross proprietary cross and sold them in her local post office. While not a substitute for official U.S. postage, she encouraged people to buy and affix these seals to holiday packages to demonstrate commitment to helping treat tuberculosis. Sales, however, were slow. Leigh Mitchell Hodges, a columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, came to the rescue, convincing his editor to run a picture of the seal every day leading up to Christmas and to publish stories about tuberculosis. Buoyed by this publicity, Ms. Bissell succeeded beyond her wildest dreams, and the American Lung Association, then known as the National Tuberculosis Society, gained a means of raising funds.

"Within 50 years, researchers funded through volunteer efforts, identified the bacteria that causes tuberculosis and created new antibiotics that could cure it," Dr. Edelman said. "It was a breakthrough we could trace back to Christmas Seals, which also supported treatment for so many Americans who simply did not have any means for medical treatment."

Christmas Seals has raised tens of millions of dollars for the research, education and advocacy for tuberculosis and other lung diseases, including asthma and COPD.

Without these three people, Christmas Seals might never have existed, and without them the American Lung Association and its efforts might never have come to pass. The American Lung Association's work in every community still relies on individual contributions to Christmas Seals, so everyone who receives Christmas Seals in the mail today can make a difference, too, by giving generously. The appeal is rooted in the tradition of three creative individuals who took up that challenge 100 years ago to help others. It's an achievement we should all strive to match during this season of giving.

People who do not receive Christmas Seals and want to support the American Lung Association, can make an online donation at http://www.lungusa.org.

About the American Lung Association

Beginning our second century, the American Lung Association is the leading organization working to prevent lung disease and promote lung health. However, lung disease death rates continue to increase while other leading causes of death have declined.

For the past one hundred years, Christmas Seals® have provided funds for successful lung disease research and programs that have touched the lives of millions of people. The Christmas Seals® tradition began 100 years ago to conquer tuberculosis. Today, the American Lung Association fights lung disease in all forms to continue Improving Life, One Breath at a Time.

American Lung Association