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President Coolidge buying Christmas seals in 1923 to benefit the Tuberculosis Association. View full size. National Photo Company Collection.
I worked folding Christmas Seals back in the spring of 1967 when I was 11. I was paid a dollar a day to cover bus fare. Technically it was volunteer work, but because they paid me that dollar, I consider it my first job.
I folded the sheets of seals in quarters and put them in envelopes. Oddly enough, I don't recall anyone else working with me. I must have been the only person who volunteered. I think about it now and wonder if the entire Canadian 1967 TB Association Christmas Seals fundraiser depended on the work of an 11-year-old girl.
When someone told Coolidge that he had bet a friend that he could get Coolidge to say more than two words, Coolidge replied, "You lose."
He looks so thrilled about it all.
I believe the public's nickname for him was "Silent Cal".
Presidents have changed mightily in the talking department over the years.
When Dorothy Parker was told Coolidge was dead, she replied: "How could they tell?"
Although I don't have the 1923 Christmas Seals, check my blog to see Vintage Christmas Seals from 1926 to 1961.
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