A rectangle shaped stamp with a groove design cut all along the borders of it. The background is off white and along the bottom in a red strip in white letters is "Christmas 1962". along the left side is a green strip with two white candles, melted at the top with a red flame on each with white glow emitted around the flames. above the candles is written "U.S." and above that is written "4c" (the "c" is a cent mark). the outside candle is slightly shorter than the inside. taking up the largest portion of the stamp, at the right side of the stamp is a green wreath with red bow tied at the bottom and around the outside of the wreath are green lines pointing inwards towards the wreath.

Printed in 1962,this stamp US #1205, was the first holiday stamp ever printed by the United States Postal Service. This is reply to large demand for such a stamp and the sale of the stamp far exceeded the initial expectation and there were 800 million stamps printed and distributed. Postermaster General J. Edward Day annoucned that it was the first in a series of holiday themed stamps. The stamp was met with critisicim from those who declared it was was a violation of seperation of church and state, however holiday themed stamps comtinued to be printed and the Christmas stamp was joined by the Hanukkah stamp in 1996 and the Kwanza stamp in 1997 and the Eid stamp in 2001.

The content on this site is made available for research and education purposes only. The use of these materials may be restricted by law or the donor.

Any other use, such as exhibition, publication, or commercial use, is not allowed except by written permission in accordance with the NHM Image Rights and Reproduction Policy.

For questions on image rights and reproduction, please contact nhmcollections@hellenicmuseum.org