12A • COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • DECEMBER 12, 2018
© 2018 by Vicki Whiting, Editor
ne stormy December night in 1903, a mail carrier named
Elinar Holboell was working late in a small post office just
outside of Copenhagen, Denmark.
Glancing out the window, he noticed two children dressed in rags. As
he went back to his work sorting the happy holiday cards, he was
troubled by the hungry and cold children.
Jeff Schinkel, Graphics
Vol. 35, No. 1
n 1904, Elinar and his fellow postal workers
created a special stamp to help children.
It had a picture of the queen of Denmark,
Queen Louise.
The Danes bought four million seals that first
year. The funds were used to build hospitals
for children with tuberculosis (TB). At that
time, TB was the leading cause of death.
Suddenly he had an idea. Suppose that every letter carried an extra
stamp, and the money from these stamps helped unfortunate children.
Denmark’s neighbors, Norway and Sweden,
saw what a great power the people could be,
and in 1905 they started selling Christmas Seals.
But when an American woman wanted to use
Christmas Seals to save a small hospital in
Pennsylvania, she ran into problems. The post
office would not let its workers sell the seals.
When a young newspaper writer saw the
seals, he told his boss, “Just look—a penny
apiece—within everyone’s reach—think how
they’ll carry the news of what people can do
for themselves—what a slogan, STAMP
OUT TUBERCULOSIS!”
The newspaper told the story and sold the
seals at their front counter. The first day the
stamps went on sale, a little newsboy who
was too small to see over the counter came
in and, reaching up with a penny, said,
“Gimme one. Me sister’s got it.”
Draw a line from each envelope to the box it should go in.
Unscramble the names of the cities on the map. Then draw a
line from each box of mail to that city’s location on the map.
Standards Link: Reading Comprehension: Follow multiple-step directions.
Soon, countries around the world started
selling Christmas Seals to help people with
TB. Today, TB is not the threat that it was
60 years ago. But there is still a need for
help. Today the money from the sale of
Christmas Seals helps people with asthma,
bronchitis and other diseases of the lungs.
The American Lung Association
had a coloring contest for kids in
the past and used the drawings
(one winner from each state)
on Christmas Seal designs in
1975, and 1977 through 1980.
They did this again in 1995 and
1996 thanks to a sponsorship
from Triaminic. The contest
was discontinued when
sponsorship ended in 1997.
But just for fun, you can still
design a Christmas Seal. Use
the space below to draw what
you think would make a good
Christmas Seal.
Standards Link: History: Students understand how events in the
present are connected to the past and the importance of civic virtue.
Find a picture
and/or words from
today’s newspaper
that seem to say
“goodwill.” Use
these images and/or
words to create a
Goodwill Seal. If
you could sell your
seal, what cause
would you support
with the money?
Find the stamp that is
different.
Standards Link: Visual discrimination.
Standards Link: Visual discrimination.
Look for a pattern in each row of stamps.
Draw the stamp that comes next.
Standards Link: Math: Students recognize patterns.
STAMP
PENNY
SEALS
SWEDEN
NEWSPAPER
NORWAY
STORMY
RAGS
HOLIDAY
WORKERS
LUNGS
QUEEN
MAIL
MAP
Standards Link:
Social Science: Students
understand the importance
of civic virtue.
Find the words by looking up,
down, backwards, forwards,
sideways and diagonally.
P A M D Y M R O T S
M G F W O R K E R S
P M A T S G N U L Y
SLOGAN
E O R A N E E U Q D
The noun slogan means a
word or phrase used by a
group to attract attention.
D P R A G S N L U I
E N T W S L N I
E L
W N K H A D Y A T O
S E A L S Y V M P H
Standards Link: Letter sequencing. Recongized identical
words. Skim and scan reading. Recall spelling patterns.
Power of the People
The candidate’s slogan
was, “Time for a change.”
Try to use the word
slogan in a sentence
today when talking with
your friends and family.
Receive or
give?
Christmas Seals showed people that anyone can
help solve serious health problems, not just doctors
and nurses. Look through today’s newspaper for
examples of people working together to make the
world a cleaner, safer, healthier place to live.
ANSWER:+HKHDUGWKDW\RXKDYHWRVWDPSOHWWHUVRUWKHSRVWRIILFHZRQ·WVHQGWKHP
Standards Link: Health: Students make decisions about health
and safety issues.
This week’s word:
N E W S P A P E R A
Some say it is better to give
than to receive. Do you
agree? Why or why not?
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