The angel who saved a small-town post office

Postmark Pursuit by Molly Goad

On the first Friday in December, card senders head to the Angelica, N.Y., post office to have their mail canceled with an angel.

This year marks the 26th folksy angel design created by local artist Pat Kaake. Each year, Kaake creates a new iteration of the heavenly being to decorate mail from residents and collectors worldwide.

The postmark came about almost three decades ago when the Postal Service was closing many small-town post offices all over the country. Undoubtedly, Angelica residents didn’t want to see that happen, so Kaake had an idea.

She had heard of other towns that embraced their holiday-themed names on a postmark and sought to capture the same type of interest with an angel-themed cancel.

Indeed her project was a success. The surge in mail volume brought on by the angel postmark is said to have saved the post office from closure. As a result, the angel will grace an estimated 10,000 pieces of mail this year.

The Angelica post office accepts mail to be postmarked with the design through Dec. 24. Angel Station postmark requests received after Dec. 24 will be available for collectors only for 30 days.

To obtain the postmark, address your request to: ANGEL Station, Postmaster, 1 W. Main St., Angelica, NY 14709-9998, Dec. 2-25.

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