Published privately in 2006 by Stephen J. Hasegawa the “Dr. Sherwood Hall’s Christmas and New Year Seals of Korea 1932-1940” catalogue is even today still the only publication listing in-depth the seals published by Dr. Sherwood Hall in Korea in the 1930s.
Sherwood Hall is known in Korea for his medical work helping Koreans during the era of Japanese occupation. James H. Grayson wrote this text about Sherwood Hall in the “Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions”:
“Hall, Sherwood (1893-1991). Canadian medical missionary to Korea and India. Born in Seoul of Methodist medical mission, parents, William Jam. Hall and Rosetta Sherwood Hall, Sherwood Hall graduated from Mount Union College, Alliance, Ohio, served with the U.S. Army Reserve Medical Co, in World War I, and completed medical training at the University of Toronto in 1923. Hall married !simian Bottomley (see Marian Bottomley Hall), also a medical doctor, in 1922. They received specialized medical training at the School of Tropical Medicine, University of London, before assignment to Norton Memorial Hospital in Haeju, Korea, in 1926. In 1928 Hall founded the Haeju School for the Tuberculous, the first tuberculosis sanatorium in Korea, and for his work was granted a certificate of merit by Japanese Emperor Hirohito in 1929. To support tuberculosis work, Hall started a program of selling Christmas seals in 1932. Expelled from Korea by the Japanese in 1940 on charges of being British spies, the Halls were reassigned to the Madar Union Tuberculosis Sanatorium near Ajmer, in Rajasthan, India. Hall introduced the Christmas seals program to India in 1941. He built up the sanatorium from 24 beds in 1941 to a complex center of nearly 500 beds with specialized treatment and retraining facilities before his retirement in 1963. The Halls visited Korea in 1960, and again in 1984 when he received the Order of Civil Merit, Moran Medal. He died in Richmond, British Columbia; his ashes were interred in the Foreigner’s Cemetery in Yanghwa-jin, Seoul, Korea.
BIBLIOGRAPHY Sherwood Hall. Stethoscope in Asia, Korea (1978, 1981; the Tonga ilbo newspaper published a Korean translation of this work in 1984).”
(From: Biographical Dictionary of Christian Missions; editor Gerald H. Anderson, reprint published by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing in 1999; ISBN 9780802846808.)
The catalogue contains the following subjects related to these seals in its 78 pages:
- Christmas Seals
- Postcards
- New Year Fold Cards
- Wood Block Prints
- Posters
- Bonds
- Souvenir Sheets
- T.B. Posters
- Calendars
- Order Cards
- Brochure for Announcements
- Letter Sheets
- Dr. Hall’s Personal Envelopes
- Commemorative Seals
Some sample pages from the catalogue (scans of cover and pages provided by KSS member Robert Finder):
More information can also be found on the KSS website. For instance: the painting used for one of the seals was shown in a Korean Philately article published in May 2012. Other related articles can be found under “Non-Postal“.
For any serious collector of the Korean Christmas seals, it is a must to have a copy of this. Occasionally they are listed on eBay. Since it was published in 2006, the prices quoted have risen on many of the items, but it still gives a great relative value of the seals and all the related material.
Looking for copy Dr. Sherwood Hall’s Christmas and New Year Seals of Korea 1932-1940” catalogue. Would you or know someone who has one..regards, dave
Unfortunately, although Stephen Hasegawa did reprint his catalogue, I believe he sold his last copy to a KSS member about 1 year ago for $100, and he isn’t going to print anymore. I am regularly in contact with him and I will just double-check that he doesn’t have any left, and if he has one, I will let you know. I found my original one, which is falling apart now because I use it so much, years ago on eBay. Occasionally these come up on eBay, or used books websites like AbeBooks. You should put in a permanent search on eBay and AbeBooks to send you an e-mail, if one comes in stock.
Sorry, I couldn’t give you more hopeful information. His catalogue is the best for documenting the Dr. Hall Korea Christmas seal era and contains more information than any catalogue I have found. Stephen gave me permission to use his catalogue for articles in the KSS website and Korean Philately magazine, and 70% of his information in his catalogue can already be found on the KSS website/KP magazines, and hopefully we will publish more information on the KSS website/KP magazine in the future.