Along with Dr. Sherwood Hall’s TB/Christmas and New Year seal program, which began in 1932, to raise money for fighting tuberculosis in Korea, a number of items related to the design of the seals where promoted and sold to the public to raise additional funds. As we have seen in earlier articles published on the Korea Stamp Society’s web site, there were postcards, “fold cards” and souvenir sheets issued in some years. In addition, there were posters, calendars, bonds, puzzles and woodblocks print cards. This article discusses the woodblock print cards that Dr. Hall issued between 1934 and 1940.
Woodblock printing is a process where wood blocks are carved with a knife, chisel or sandpaper, leaving the characters or images to show in the original surface level. The block is then inked and pressed against the paper or cloth to leave an image. For color printings, multiple blocks are used, one of each color, although overprinting with two colors can be used to produce additional colors.