'Tis the season to collect stamps and seals

By Michael Baadke

Anyone receiving mail recently from just about anywhere in the United States has probably seen a postmark similar to the example shown here in Figure 1.

The U.S. Postal Service is marking the Christmas holiday in 2000 with the widespread use of a pictorial postmark that relates to the new Universal Pictures holiday film Dr. Seuss' How The Grinch Stole Christmas.

The postmark reads, "HAPPY 'WHO-LIDAYS' from the U.S. Postal Service!" and includes an image of the hand of the Christmas-hating Grinch holding a holiday ornament.

Christmas is regularly recognized by postal systems all around the world, and, in many cases, these agencies create Christmas postal items that stamp collectors like to save.

Each year brings a new selection of Christmas-theme postage stamps from many post offices worldwide.

It's widely believed that the world's first Christmas stamps were issued by Canada in 1898. These two 2¢ stamps, Canada Scott 85-86, each show a map of the world, with lands claimed at the time by the British Empire highlighted in red.

It's really not much of a Christmas theme, but inscribed near the bottom of the design are the words, "XMAS 1898." Figure 2 shows this early Christmas stamp design, along with one of Canada's Christmas stamps for 2000, a 95¢ stamp depicting a scene from the story of Christ's birth.

Like many countries around the world, Canada regularly issues new Christmas stamps near the end of each year.

The U.S. Postal Service generally has done the same, although in 2000 it chose to reuse the same 33¢ Christmas postage stamps it issued in 1999, releasing only a new set of 20¢ Deer picture postal cards.

The postal cards show the leaping deer that was featured in 1999 on the self-adhesive postage stamps, printed in four varieties, each in a different color.

It's not the first time that the U.S. Postal Service chose to issue a postal stationery item commemorating the holidays: in 1988 it released a 25¢ Holiday Greetings stamped envelope with a snowflake design, Scott U613.

The chart below lists U.S. stamps and postal stationery items that have been issued to commemorate the Christmas holiday. The first was a single 4¢ stamp from 1962 showing two lit candles and a Christmas wreath and bearing the inscription "Christmas 1962."

In recent years, the U.S. Postal Service has regularly issued two types of Christmas stamps. These are identified by USPS as the traditional and contemporary holiday stamps.

The traditional stamps usually picture a classic painting of the Madonna and Child as exhibited in a U.S. museum. The 1999 stamp, for example, shows Bartolomeo Vivarini's Madonna and Child from the National Gallery of Art.

The contemporary stamps show a design with other symbols of the holiday, such as wreaths (1998), holly (1997), family scenes (1996) and Santa Claus (1995).

The first-day postmarks for U.S. Christmas stamps are often provided from appropriately named towns, such as Rudolph, Wis., for this year's Deer picture postal cards.

Along with first-day cancels, collectors each year can obtain many commemorative Christmas postmarks from towns and cities all across the country. Details of how to request many of these postmarks are featured this week on page 30 (in print) in the Postmark Pursuit column by Rachel Supinger.

Years before Christmas designs appeared on U.S. postage stamps, they were found on pictorial postage meter stamps. In Pictorial Meter Stamps of the United States,Douglas A. Kelsey illustrates a 1940 meter stamp showing Santa Claus holding a bottle of Coca-Cola.

Other early imprints include the messages "Season's Greetings," "Holiday Greetings" and "Merry Christmas," along with appropriate pictorial elements showing candles, tree ornaments and Santa Claus. Collectors of philatelic Christmas items can save entire covers bearing postage meter markings.

Although Christmas seals are not valid for use as postage, many stamp collectors have a strong interest in these fund-raising labels.

One such collector is Linn's U.S. Notes columnist John Hotchner, who asks this week on page 6 (in print) for help updating the earliest-known uses for many early U.S. Christmas seals.

The Christmas seal was first developed in 1904 by Einar Holboell, a Danish postal employee. The 1904 seal from Denmark is shown in Figure 3.

In the United States, the American Lung Association provides Christmas seals.

The Scott Specialized Catalogue of United States Stamps and Covers lists U.S. seals issued from 1907 to 1979, near the back of the book, using the catalog prefix WX.

Many collectors interested in Christmas seals join the Christmas Seal and Charity Stamp Society. Information about the group is available on the Internet at http://members.aol.com/betsychuck/cscss.htm or you can send an addressed, stamped envelope to CSCSS, Florence H. Wright, Box 18615, Rochester, NY 14618. A sample copy of the society journal, Seal News, is available from the same address for $1.

The Christmas Philatelic Club is another group that enjoys stamps and related collectibles with a Christmas theme. Information about CPC is available on the Internet at www.hwcn.org/link/cpc or you can send an addressed, stamped envelope to CPC, 312 Northwood Drive, Lexington, KY 40505-2104.

Along with bringing good cheer, your Christmas mail can also bring you a world of interesting Christmas collectibles.