Painter’s Postage

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Since
Christmas
is approaching,
I cobbled together
a quick little tour of
US postage stamps
that feature a
Christmas
theme
.

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This
is the first
United States
Christmas stamp,
issued in
1962
:

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Some
wondered
if the postal service
had crossed the line
between church
and state
.

In
1963
the USPS
issued a stamp
with a Christmas tree
in front of the White House
:

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This also
received criticism
for mixing politics
with religion
.

The USPS took
the next year off, but
came back in 1965 with
a design featuring the
angel Gabriel
:

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Since
then, the
US Postal Service
has continued to issue
annual Christmas stamps
with “Traditional” and
“Contemporary”
themes
.

Our
interest is in
biblical artwork,
so this is a collection
of the stamps
classified
as
Traditional
.

It seems fitting that
the USPS chose Gabriel
as their first traditional stamp
design, because he was the
angel that announced the
birth of Jesus into
the world
.

Most of the traditional
Christmas stamps since
then have focused
on the nativity
.

Here is the
complete collection
:

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The
National
Smithsonian
Postal Museum’s
online exhibit displays
original artwork with
descriptions and
historical info
:

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The
icon for
this article is
a detail from the
watercolor painting
that was used to make the
the first “traditional”
Christmas Stamp
:

It
looks
like an old
and corroded
weather vane,
but it’s really a
watercolor
painting
!!!

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FROM HISTORY.COM
https://www.history.com/news/11-most-controversial-stamps-in-u-s-history
No kind of stamp seems to have been as consistently controversial as the ones issued to mark Christmas. That includes the first U.S. Christmas stamp, issued in 1962. Featuring a pair of white candles and a wreath with a red bow, it was attacked for crossing the line between church and state as well as for slighting other faiths. Some Christians objected to it, too, saying the government had no business intruding into their religion. Time magazine even faulted it on aesthetic grounds, calling it “calculated blah.” The post office fared no better in 1963 with a design involving a lit-up Christmas tree in front of the White House. Though perhaps an improvement artistically, it was lambasted for injecting politics into Christmas.