1929 Health

The first Health stamp was approved by the Government in October 1929. The stamp was assigned a postage rate of 1d postage and a charity value of 1d. At the suggestion of the Health Department it was decided that the proceeds of the charity value were to be donated to Children's Health Camps.

The first Health camp conducted in New Zealand was held at Turakina, near Wanganui in 1919 when 55 children attended a three week camp organised by Dr Elizabeth Gunn. The Camps were designed to provide holiday health care for children with nutritional and minor physical problems. Later they gave brief holiday relief for children during the depression years.

The staff of the Government Printing Office designed the frame for the stamp. The first health stamp bears the inscription "help stamp out tuberculosis" and 1929 is inscribed around the cross of Lorraine (the emblem of the International Anti-Tuberculosis Societies). The nurse image was drawn by Mr Stanley Davis who was on the staff of the Advertisting Branch of the New Zealand Railways Department. For the basis of his drawing Mr Davis used the photograh of a nurse who had just qualified in the State final examination.

When the stamp was issued on the 11th December 1929, it was announced that it would only be on sale for a short period of time. Stocks were withdrawn from sale from all post offices on the 28th February 1930. Shortly after the release of the 1930 Health stamp, the Post and Telegraph Department made the 1929 issue again available on special applicaton to the Head Office, and the 1929 issue was therefore again available from 5th December 1930 until 28 February 1931.

Acknowledgments

New Zealand Post would like to acknowledge the following for their assistance and guidance in bringing together this stamp issue:

Historical information included on this page sourced from The Postage Stamps of New Zealand published by the Royal Philatelic Society of NZ. Their web site offers further information useful to those interested in the stamps and postal history of New Zealand. Link: https://www.rpsnz.org.nz/

Product Listing for 1929 Health

Image	Title	Description	Price
	Single Stamp	Single 1d + 1d 'TB' gummed stamp. Nurse in uniform and wearing the brooch and star, the insignia of the New Zealand Registered Nurse Association. The year of issue was depicted near the bottom of the design, flanking the double-barred patriarchal cross, which had been adopted as the emblem of the International Anti-Tuberculosis Societies. The slogan 'Help Stamp Out Tuberculosis' was included in the stamp design.	2d