Holiday Stamps Deliver Cheer

Michael J. Elston, USPS vice president of labor relations, spoke at the event. "With colder days and longer nights approaching, these stamps offer a fresh and festive way to brighten up our holiday cards and letters, in turn, brightening the lives of our friends and loved ones."

For hundreds of years, decorating with fruit, flowers and greenery has been a popular and appealing tradition. The first stamp honors that tradition with an illustration of a plump yellow Bartlett pear, a red pomegranate and a reddish-orange clementine nestled against the branch of an evergreen tree.

The wreath imagery in the second stamp contains a mix of light and dark green leaves interspersed with holly berries and a large red bow at the top. Berries and other seasonal fruits add beautiful color to wreaths and floral arrangements throughout the winter season and are an important food source for birds and other wildlife.

Two crimson cardinals are perched on a mistletoe branch in the third stamp. Northern cardinals have long been associated with the winter holidays, and grace many seasonal cards. These much-loved songbirds provide glorious splashes of color against snow-covered evergreen boughs in backyards across the country.

The final design features three scarlet amaryllis flowers with their bright green stalks tied together by a red ribbon. These festive flowers have become increasingly popular as a Christmas gift. With the right care, they can bloom year after year. Some may also live up to 75 years. Although the majority of amaryllis plants are sold around Christmas, amaryllises naturally bloom from February to April.

Denise Fiedler created the artwork for the collection using gouache and acrylic paint on background paper from a vintage gardening book. She then cut out the shapes for each image and pasted them onto an archival cotton board. Derry Noyes, an art director for USPS, designed the stamps.

Holiday Cheer stamps are being issued in booklets of 20. These Forever stamps will always be equal in value to the current First-Class Mail 1-ounce rate. News of the stamps is being shared with the hashtag #HolidayCheerStamps.

Postal Products

Customers may purchase stamps and other philatelic products through the Postal Store at usps.com/shopstamps, by calling 844-737-7826, by mail through USA Philatelic or at Post Office locations nationwide. For officially licensed stamp products, shop the USPS Officially Licensed Collection on Amazon. Additional information on stamps, first-day-of-issue ceremonies  and stamp-inspired products can be found at StampsForever.com.

Please Note: The United States Postal Service is an independent federal establishment, mandated to be self-financing and to serve every American community through the affordable, reliable and secure delivery of mail and packages to nearly 169 million addresses six and often seven days a week. Overseen by a bipartisan Board of Governors, the Postal Service is implementing a 10-year transformation plan, Delivering for America, to modernize the postal network, restore long-term financial sustainability, dramatically improve service across all mail and shipping categories, and maintain the organization as one of America's most valued and trusted brands.

The Postal Service generally receives no tax dollars for operating expenses and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to fund its operations.

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National contact: Felicia Lott
[email protected]

Local contact: Mark Wahl
[email protected]
usps.com/news

SOURCE U.S. Postal Service