Christmas Stamp Collecting and Stamp Photos
Christmas stamps were first printed in the US in 1962, with a starting run of 350 million stamps. Those sold out almost instantly. The USPS realized they had a hit on their hands and by the end of the 1962 holiday season they had printed over a billion stamps for the inaugural year's run! The cost of postage at the time was 4 cents.
The image on the right, with the angel silhouette blowing a trumpet, is an image of the 1965 stamp, the earliest year Walter began collecting the stamps. Christmas stamps have been released every year since 1962 (except 2000). Sometimes they go with a single image, sometimes with a selection of holiday images for the buyers to choose from.
I love Christmas stamps! They have beautiful images on them, and carry holiday wishes throughout the world.
This collection of Christmas and holiday stamps was painstakingly collected over many decades by Walter Samora in Yonkers, New York. Walter was the grandfather of my boyfriend, Bob. When Walter passed away he entrusted Bob with their care. Because the stamps were so important to Walter, I am now making it my mission to load them all online so that they can be enjoyed by the entire world.
Christmas stamps in the US have had their share of intrigue. There was considerable debate about a US organization printing religious stamps - particularly since they only created stamps for Christmas and not for any other religion's holiday. The next religion they featured wasn't until 1996 - over thirty years later - when they created a Hannukah stamp.
Click on links below to browse through my online gallery of US Christmas Stamps. The vast majority of these are stamps which came from Walter's collection, which he lovingly gathered each year from incoming cards and letters. A few others were added in to complete the online gallery.
1962 Christmas Stamp - 4 Cent Wreath
1963 Christmas Stamp - 5 Cent Tree
1964 Christmas Stamp - 5 Cent Greens
1965 Christmas Stamp - 5 Cent Angel with Trumpet
1966 Christmas Stamp - 5 Cent Virgin Mary
1967 Christmas Stamp - 5 Cent Virgin Mary
1968 Christmas Stamp - 6 Cent Gabriel
1969 Christmas Stamp - 6 Cent Horse
1970 Christmas Stamp - 6 Cent Nativity
1970 Christmas Stamp - 6 Cent Toys
1971 Christmas Stamp - 8 Cent Nativity
1971 Christmas Stamp - 8 Cent Partridge
1972 Christmas Stamp - 8 Cent Angels
1972 Christmas Stamp - 8 Cent Santa
1973 Christmas Stamp - 8 Cent Tree
1974 Christmas Stamp - 10 Cent Angel
1975 Christmas Stamp - 10 Cent Angel
1975 Christmas Stamp - 10 Cent Mary
1976 Christmas Stamp - 13 Cent Kids
1976 Christmas Stamp - 13 Cent Virgin Mary
1977 Christmas Stamp - 13 Cent Mailbox
1977 Christmas Stamp - 13 Cent Valley Forge
1978 Christmas Stamp - 15 Cent Rocking Horse
1978 Christmas Stamp - 15 Cent Virgin Mary
1979 Christmas Stamp - 15 Cent Cookie
1979 Christmas Stamp - 15 Cent Virgin Mary
1980 Christmas Stamp - 15 Cent Stained Glass Mary
1981 Christmas Stamp - 20 Cent Teddy Bear on Sleigh
1982 Christmas Stamp - 20 Cent Winter Scenes
Non-US Stamps
Canadian 1974 Christmas Stamp - 6c Angels
March of Dimes Stamps
1966 March of Dimes Stamp
1971 March of Dimes Stamp
Miscellaneous Christmas Stamps
Because I have many copies of many of my stamps, feel free to contact me if you have an interest or swapping or buying one of these. I am quite happy to share my love of stamping with others!
Stamp Collecting and Stamp Photos