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A Christmas stamp is a postage stamp with a Christmas theme, intended for use on seasonal mail such as . Many countries issue such stamps, which are regular postage stamps (in contrast to ) and are usually valid for postage year-round (in some countries they have a discounted value and are for use exclusively on Christmas cards). They usually go on sale some time between early October and early December, and are printed in considerable quantities.
In 1935, British Forces troops stationed in Egypt were issued with a Christmas stamp for their mail home. For many years these were not included in the Stanley Gibbons catalogues, as they classified them as a “seal” rather than a postage stamp, but they have been properly included since the mid-1960s as they prepaid postage and so, despite the inscription "Letter stamp", are normal stamps, and should therefore be counted as the first stamp issued expressly to mark Christmas. Like the slightly earlier Silver Jubilee overprints on the “sphinx” stamp, the Christmas stamps were issued in booklet form in panes of 20.http://www.gbos.org.uk/index.php/Country_List/13 www.gbos.org.uk
In 1937, Austria issued two "Christmas greeting stamps" featuring a rose and zodiac signs. In 1939, Brazil issued four semi-postal stamps with designs featuring the three kings and a star, an angel and child, the Southern Cross and a child, and a mother and child. In 1941 Hungary also issued a semi-postal whose additional fees were to pay for "soldiers' Christmas". The first stamps to depict the Nativity were the Hungary issue of 1943. These were all one-time issues, more like commemorative stamps than regular issues.
The next Christmas stamps did not appear until 1951, when Cuba issued designs with and bells, followed by Haiti in 1954, Luxembourg and Spain in 1955, and Australia, South Korea, and Liechtenstein in 1957. In cases such as Australia, the issuance marked the first of what became an annual tradition. Many additional countries took up the practice during the 1960s, including the United States in 1962 and the United Kingdom in 1966.
By the 1990s, approximately 160 postal administrations were issuing Christmas stamps, mostly on an annual basis. countries constitute the largest group of non-participants, although the Palestinian Authority has issued Christmas stamps since 1995.
The choice of designs is highly variable, ranging from an overtly religious image of the Nativity, to secular images of , , Santa Claus, and so forth. A country may maintain a unified theme for several years, then change it drastically, in some cases seemingly to follow "fashion moves" by other countries. For instance, during the 1970s many countries issued Christmas stamps featuring children's drawings, with the young artist identified by name and age.
The choice of secular or religious designs is frequently a bone of contention in some countries; church leaders often see secular designs as diluting the meaning of the holiday, while postal officials fear that overly religious designs could lead their secular or minority-religious customers to avoid the stamps, leaving millions unsold, and even expose the postal administration to charges that they are violating laws prohibiting the promotion of a particular religion.
In the United States, annual discord over "secular" versus "religious" designs was eventually resolved by the Postal Service issuing some of each per year; typically a group of 4–6 related secular designs, plus a religious design (usually depicting the Madonna and Child). To avoid difficulties attendant upon contracting for original designs with a religious theme, the latter have typically been adapted from Old Master paintings hanging in U.S. galleries, thus qualifying as depictions of art. (In 2012, 2014, and 2016, however, religious-themed stamps were issued featuring original designs depicting the flight into Egypt, the journey of the Biblical Magi, and the Nativity of Jesus, respectively.) In the United Kingdom, the Royal Mail resolves the difficulty by issuing "religious" and "secular" themed designs in alternate years.
The Christmas Philatelic Club was formed in 1969 by Christmas stamp collectors and issues a quarterly journal, the Yule Log. A number of collectors treat Christmas collecting as a subcategory of religion on stamps.
In Japan, there is a longstanding tradition of a New Year's stamp. A number of Easter stamps have also been issued, but these are largely aimed at collectors.
Valentine's Day stamps are a more recent tradition in some countries.
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