Supporting Philatelists Since 1952
One of our Korea Stamp Society members has the fortune to have in his collection a genuinely postally used postcard that was mailed just before the start of the Korean War in 1950. At the time of the purchase, our member did not realize the significance of the postcard, he was just interested in obtaining […]
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In 1956 the Korean National Tuberculosis Association would again issue a single Christmas/Tuberculosis (TB) seal. This seal was printed by lithograph on un-watermarked paper, both gummed and ungummed, and sold in sheets of 100 seals. The 1956 seal depicts three Hibiscus flowers. The sheets were sold as perforated 11. The seals were printed on both […]
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KP for August, 1969, p75-77 discussed the Korean Revenue Stamp Issues of 1946-48 and reproduced the U.S. Military Government Ordinances Number 110 (14 Sept. 1946) and Number 171 (11 March 1948) which authorized the issue and use of these two series of stamps. A recent opportunity to examine full panes of these stamps has provided […]
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In 1955 the Korean National Tuberculosis Association issued a Christmas/Tuberculosis (TB) seal. This seal was printed by lithograph on un-watermarked gummed paper and sold in sheets of 100 seals. The 1955 seal shows two white cranes in flight. Unlike the 1954 TB seal, this seal was well designed and printed, and there are no known […]
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In this article we continue the Korea Stamp Society’s (KSS) series on the Korea Christmas/Tuberculosis (TB) seals that began with information about the first seal issued in 1932 which was introduced by Dr. Sherwood Hall. The last previous article that highlighted the 1953 seal was published on the KSS website on July 29, 2020. The […]
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(A recent listing of a postcard on Ebay led to a series of emails amongst active KSS members. James Grayson, who lived for several decades in Korea and knows a lot about the history of churches in Korea, created this text, together with Florian Eichhorn, in answer to the questions raised.) This post card forms […]
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Last year on August 25, 2021, the author published an article on the Korea Stamp Society’s (KSS) webpage about Dr. Sherwood Hall’s woodblock print cards from 1934-1940, that were sold/given along with the Christmas/New Year’s and Tuberculosis (TB) seals. Since that time the author has been fortunate to find a complete set of the 7 […]
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It should not come as a surprise that a specialized stamp society such as the KSS has among its membership quite a few highly specialized members. However, it does sometimes feel as if the KSS has more of those specialized members than quite a few other stamp societies. It is of course purely anecdotal, but […]
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Originated in Denmark, Christmas seals have become a universal symbol of the fight against tuberculosis. A story that includes an important chapter by Dr. Sherwood Hall, ‘19, and his wife, Dr. Marian Hall, the former Marian Bottomley, ’22. Going to Korea as medical missionaries in 1926, they established that country’s first tuberculosis sanatorium, for which […]
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During the Korean War (1950-1953) and for at least a decade after the war South Korea (ROK) was counted amongst the poorest nations in the world. As late as the early 1960s the average Ethiopian or Ugandan was richer than the average South Korean. And yes, even the average North Korean was (probably) richer than […]
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Shown here is a military post card used in 1952. The card is a commemorative card, printed to commemorate “Samil Day”. The following extract about Samiljeol is from a 1943 booklet authored by New Ilhan entitled Korea and the Pacific War which was based on a report he prepared for the Office of Strategic Services […]
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Two post cards, part of a set commemorating the ROK 1955 Expo. These two post cards were made by the Huimangsa 希望社 · 製 for the industrial exhibition commemorating the tenth anniversary of liberation 解放十週年產業博覽會記念. This refers to August 15, 1945, commemorated in both the ROK and DPRK as the date Korea was liberated from […]
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One of the most interesting types of (philatelic) articles are in my opinion the ones which have a personal connection. Take for instance the KSS members who used to work in Korea in the 1960s and 1970s. At that time they wrote quite a few articles on the philatelic situation on the ground, which has […]
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A 2-sided sheet containing Dr. Sherwood Hall’s Korean Tuberculosis/Christmas and New Seals from 1932-1940 caught my eye on eBay recently; it was offered by a dealer in the UK. It was produced by the Tatham Stamp and Coin Company of Springfield, Massachusetts in the USA and it is a set of seals “on approval”. When […]
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In an earlier article on 17 August 2019 posted on the Korea Stamp Society’s website, we wrote about the Methodist’s 50th anniversary in Korea. Dr. Sherwood Hall, the creator of Korea’s first Tuberculosis/Christmas and New Year’s seal in 1932 also designed this seal. A number of examples of these seals used on mailings from Korea […]
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Towards the end of the Korean War the issue of when and where to repatriate prisoners of war was a major problem. One year after the release in January 1954 from prisoner-of-war camps of Chinese troops in South Korea, Taiwan (or the “Republic of China”/ROC) issued a series of special stamps. The 1955 official Taiwan […]
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Eventually we will publish a full description of the Dr. Sherwood Hall’s known Tuberculosis/Christmas and New Year envelopes and letters stationery. This article gives a brief introduction of a set of stationery used personally by Dr. Sherwood Hall when thanking a friend in Fayetteville, Arkansas for some stamps and covers that were sent to Dr. […]
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The use of Christmas Seals in Korea began with the work of the Methodist medical missionaries Dr. Sherwood Hall (Korean name Ha Rak 賀樂, 1893-1991) and his wife Dr. Marian Bottomley Hall (1896-1991) who were based in the city of Haeju (海州) in South Hwanghae Province (黃海道), now in North Korea.
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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 […]
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Our past Chairman and Publisher of the Korea Stamp Society (KSS), Ivo Spanjersberg, has long urged that he and I write an article about the Korean Relief Inc. organization and its related Korean philatelic items. Various items of postal history, including postal stationery, aerogrammes, Christmas seals and labels, and other related merchandize, are frequently seen […]
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