Christmas Postage Stamps
What makes a Christmas Stamp a Christmas stamp used for postage, which is an actual postage stamp? It depicts a theme related to Christmas, religious or secular as defined today.
The very first Christmas stamp was issued by Canada in 1899. It was not intended as a Christmas stamp but rather a uniform stamp for the British Empire to be used on December 25th.
The stamp was a map of the British Empire with the word Christmas printed at the bottom.
The UK issued the first Christmas Special Stamps on December 1, 1966. That year the design was the result of a children's art competition.
In 1957, Australia issued Christmas stamps for the first time
This was intended to be an experiment but following favorable public reaction, it was decided to issue Christmas stamps annually.
America issued its first Christmas stamp in 1962.
Twenty-five other countries around the world have already issued Christmas stamps. It was a letter-writing campaign, started by the people in Waca WI persistently asking for a Christmas stamp. The reason the U.S. was hesitant to issue a Christmas stamp was religious. Christmas is a religious holiday. The concern was it would be contrary to the separation of church and state.
This strong argument is that no government currency or stamp could be affiliated with a specific religion. However, the postal department had already issued 3 stamps with a religious motif. In 1952 they issued an image of the Gutenberg Bible for example, as was pointed out by a letter writer.
It didn’t mean the letter campaign caused the government to yield to the writers, it all came down to money. At the time Christmas cards had a special postage rate of 3 cents while first-class postage was 4 cents if a first-class Christmas stamp was issued people would purchase them for mailing their cards. Are you wondering how the postal department knew what was in the envelope? “You could only get the Christmas card stamp rate if you did not seal the envelope and there were no personal messages inside.” One could sign their name but anything else would make it a letter and was sent back for lack of proper postage. The US Postal Department stayed neutral with the issues of Christmas stamps until 1965 when an angel with a trumpet appeared on the stamp.
A loophole was found. The image was taken from a weather vane at the top of a historic church. The following year the Madonna and Child from a painting by Hans Menig which hangs in the National Gallery of Art in Washington DC., another loophole, not religious, but art and culture. Some people did not accept the argument. Several groups sued the postal department for issuing a religious stamp. We still have Christmas stamps so the cases were assumed to be dismissed. For over 41 years a Christmas stamp with Madonna and Child is taken from artwork in U.S. museums. New nonsecular Christmas stamps are issued yearly and new Madonna and Child stamps every other year. USPS website dated October 23, 2023, reveals the 2024 Madonna and Child stamp.
Christmas Madonna and Child
A new traditional Christmas stamp will be issued in 2024 featuring the Madonna and Child from the Workshop of Sassoferrato. Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato (1609-1685), gained popularity for his modestly scaled depictions of the Madonna and Child.
The Holiday Joy collection is new this year
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Information from Brian Earl Christmas Past. USPS website. Australia Post website, and Canada Post website.
What makes a Christmas Stamp a Christmas stamp used for postage, which is an actual postage stamp? It depicts a theme related to Christmas, religious or secular as defined today.
The very first Christmas stamp was issued by Canada in 1899. It was not intended as a Christmas stamp but rather a uniform stamp for the British Empire to be used on December 25th.
The UK issued the first Christmas Special Stamps on December 1, 1966. That year the design was the result of a children's art competition.
In 1957, Australia issued Christmas stamps for the first time
America issued its first Christmas stamp in 1962.
This strong argument is that no government currency or stamp could be affiliated with a specific religion. However, the postal department had already issued 3 stamps with a religious motif. In 1952 they issued an image of the Gutenberg Bible for example, as was pointed out by a letter writer.
It didn’t mean the letter campaign caused the government to yield to the writers, it all came down to money. At the time Christmas cards had a special postage rate of 3 cents while first-class postage was 4 cents if a first-class Christmas stamp was issued people would purchase them for mailing their cards. Are you wondering how the postal department knew what was in the envelope? “You could only get the Christmas card stamp rate if you did not seal the envelope and there were no personal messages inside.” One could sign their name but anything else would make it a letter and was sent back for lack of proper postage. The US Postal Department stayed neutral with the issues of Christmas stamps until 1965 when an angel with a trumpet appeared on the stamp.
Christmas Madonna and Child
A new traditional Christmas stamp will be issued in 2024 featuring the Madonna and Child from the Workshop of Sassoferrato. Giovanni Battista Salvi da Sassoferrato (1609-1685), gained popularity for his modestly scaled depictions of the Madonna and Child.
The Holiday Joy collection is new this year
Information from Brian Earl Christmas Past. USPS website. Australia Post website, and Canada Post website.
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