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Denmark Christmas Seals 1962

denmark christmas seals
1962 Denmark Christmas Seals designed by Erik Petersen

Glædelig Jul! In the early 1900s, a Danish postal clerk came up with the idea of selling Christmas seals to raise money for children with tuberculosis. Over 100 years later, these “cinderella” (unofficial postage) stamps have become a worldwide holiday tradition. In 1962, Erik Petersen designed this sheet of Christmas seals, depicting the gamle håndværk (”old trades”) of Denmark. I want to live inside this illustration; I’d stop by the pipe maker’s shop on my way to pick up some candles and clogs.

danish christmas seals

By the dock of the bay, there’s a radio tower, some sort of cornucopia, and the Kongelig Toldkammer (Royal Customs office).

denmark stamps

Cooper, butcher, milliner, wainwright, fabric maker, and what looks like a fire station.

danish stamps

Unknown gold shape (UPDATE: carpenter’s wood plane), chandler, glazier, milliner, and perhaps a church with a tiny gated statue.

denmark christmas seals

Locksmith, jeweler, pipe maker, sign painter, cobbler, and post office (represented by the Denmark Post Flag insignia - a horn and crown).

Happy Holidays, everybody!

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Also worth checking: Hong Kong Festivals 1975 Stamps.

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12.22.09 in Off Our Bookshelves, Uncategorized by Wes

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It’s got my seal of approval!

Looks to me like the unidentified gold object, beside the chandler, is a wood plane / wood shaver - must be a carpenter’s shop;)

Nice stamps!

oh- and the “cornucopia” is a fishnet.=)

I agree with Luke, my first thought was that the “unidentified gold shape” must be a wood plane carpenter tool!

Wauw, how nice is that!

That ‘unknown gold shape’ is a wood plane! I love these, especially the Lighthouse! Thanks for sharing.

Plane, yes. Wonderful stuff. Happy Holidays, Grain Edit!

These are tight little designs, I love the neutral color palette mixed with the gold and highlight color. Danish design is always amazingly simple.

The “Unknown gold shape” is in danish called (høvl). What i believe is translated to plane. A tool for planing wood.

Hope it makes sense. :D

12.22.09 |

Christian Steen Jørgensen |

Off Our Bookshelves Uncategorized |

I think the unknown gold shape is a block plane for a carpenter or cabinetmaker.

The “unknown gold shape” is a hand plane, for working with wood.

I think the unknown gold shape is a carpenter’s plane.

The gold thingy is a plane.

Looks like I’m not the only one who knew what it was……

Dang….I guess I need to brush up on my carpentry skills. Every time I looked at that stamp, all I could see was a sideways golden cowboy boot with a shotgun peeking out behind it! Thanks for the enlightenment, everybody.

RE: Denmark Christmas seals 1962

“Unknown gold shape (any guesses?)” - it is a Carpenters’ plane.

Enjoy Grain Edit very much - thanks!

That is fantastic.

Nice find! Your blog’s a nice find for me too :)

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