THE TUBERCULOSIS CHRISTMAS SEAL 57 



rangement between your Association and the Red Cross in the conduct of the 

 Christmas stamp campaign. 



In deciding upon retaining I2> per cent, as the Red Cross proportion of the 

 gross sale of Christmas stamps this year, we went into the matter of expenses 

 and the probabilities of the sale with a good deal of care. Last year we sold, 

 in round numbers, twenty-five million stamps. This year, if we sell ten 

 million stamps, the I2> per cent, will just cover our outlay. It may not 

 cover the time of our regular force devoted to the work of the campaign but 

 will cover our actual expenditures for printing, postage, express charges and 

 extra services. Should we sell as many stamps this year as we sold last, our 

 I2> per cent, would bring us a profit of probably $18,000 after all expenses 

 have been deducted. 



Our study of the outlook does not lead us to expect a sale so large as that of 

 last year. It will probably be considerably smaller and may be very much 

 smaller. Several factors enter into our conclusion that the sale this year will 

 show a falling off. One factor is the probability that there will be a large 

 number of rival stamps in the market. We are told that in a number of States 

 the State Federation of Women's Clubs are considering the issuing of stamps 

 of their own, the proceeds to be used in promoting such interests as the Wo- 

 men's Clubs may be pursuing at the time. As the Women's Clubs in the past 

 have been a strong help in the sale of our Red Cross stamps, their defection 

 would very seriously hurt our sale in any State in which they issued a stamp 

 of their own. In the State of Kentucky, for instance, the State Tuberculosis 

 Society wrote us that the Federation of Women's Clubs was likely to issue 

 its own stamp in which case the Tuberculosis Society would feel that it must 

 cast in its lot with the Federation and discontinue the sale of Red Cross stamps. 

 This is but an illustration of what may possibly occur in several states. 



Another factor is the passing of the vogue of the Christmas stamp. We 

 cannot positively assert that the tide has reached its height and begun to ebb, 

 but there are some indications that it has. The most important indication 

 is to be found in the fact that in 1909 some of our more important agencies 

 sold fewer stamps than in 1908 and are expressing doubt as to the success of 

 the campaign this year. The increase last year in total sales over the year 

 before was due in part to a sustained interest and in part to the awakening of 

 new interest in territory which was not reached in 1908. Last year, however, 

 we entered most of the territory of the country from which large returns could 

 be expected and I feel that we cannot reasonably expect any great growth this 

 year through entering new fields. The issuance of a multiplicity of rival 

 stamps, many of them purely local in character, will not only interfere directly 

 with our sale but will tend to surfeit the public with the whole stamp business. 

 A third factor to be considered is the recent ruling of the Post Office Depart- 

 ment which is that non-postage stamps must not be affixed to the face of any 

 envelope or mailed package. This fact must be emphasized in our advertising 

 and is an item which adds somewhat to the complexity of the situation. 

 Many people will overlook this prohibition and their letters will be returned 

 to them or forwarded to the dead letter office. The result will be discontent, 



