Dog takes a bite out of Santa’s suit on Christmas first-day cover

U.S. Stamp Notes by John M. Hotchner

Creative cachetmaking can enliven an FDC, and the 1977 cover shown here is a great example.

Santa Claus comes down the chimney expecting milk and cookies, but that’s not always what he gets. On the cachet on this Fleetwood FDC for the 13¢ Rural Mailbox Christmas stamp of 1977 (Scott 1730), Santa found a watchdog that was none too pleased with the interloper and took a chunk out of Santa’s red suit.

The cachet illustration is from a painting by J.C. Leyendecker (1874-1951), Santa Up a Ladder, featured on the cover of the Dec. 20, 1930, Saturday Evening Post.

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