2012 US Holy Family (Christmas) Stamp - 10/10/2012 Wash., DC

That's wrong!

If you can get your local post office to sell you the Santa & Sleigh stamps today, it will be a minor curiosity, as the stamps are not scheduled to be issued until Saturday, October 13, 2012. (See Postal Bulletin excerpt I posted in an earlier thread for confirmation).

Hmmm. You're right; I'm wrong. I tried; they wouldn't.

Oh, well. At least you can be assured they will have the stamps on hand to sell you on Saturday!

I received my mini-press sheet of the Holy Family Christmas stamps today. I was a bit surprised at the format. Unlike the MLB All-Stars which were in individual panes of twenty, this mini-sheet is basically a stack of three twenty-stamps convertible booklets joined together and left uncut. Each of the twenty-stamps booklets has eight stamps on the front side and twelve on the back which is the same as the regular issued Holy Family booklets. Little bit different than I had expected, but, in looking back on the announcements in Linn's and the USA Philathelic magazines, it should have been clear to me how USPS planned to issue them.

I know this is not a big deal but I find it strangely annoying.

I went to my local Post Office this morning to get a hand cancel on a letter being posted to the good doctor in Bretton Woods. While there I tried to buy 11 Santa & Sleigh booklets - one for me and ten to add to five Holy Family booklets for holiday mail.

I was informed by the clerk they had not been released yet. I told her they were supposed to be available nationwide today. The next clerk over informed me in no uncertain terms that they were available in the First Day location today but cold not be sold anywhere else until the next business day. Drove seven miles down the road to the next PO, got my hand cancel and 11 booklets no fuss, no muss, from a friendly and helpful clerk. I read the Postal Bulletin, why don't postal employees? Maybe we'll all be on the same page by next year.

... Cal (Severna Park, MD but now using the Arnold, MD PO)

You'd be surprised just how many postal clerks either don't care about stamps whatsoever or are totally oblivious to reading official USPS directives about these things. I've had similar situations so by now I know what post offices to frequent and which ones to avoid -- at least if I want to get new stamps on the first day of issue.

The Catholic News Service has posted an interesting article about the Holy Family Stamps, suggesting that USPS sources have (surprisingly) received virtually no negative feedback from the general public about the issue. They also go on to outline the controversy that came up back in 1995 when they wanted to replace the stamp usually featuring the Madonna and Child with an Angel. An interesting look back at a bit of postal history as it relates to the annual US Christmas Stamps:

http://www.catholicnews.com/data/st.../1204334.htm

Good article,wt1. Their comments on US postage celebrating other faiths was also interesting. Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't know of any other country that celebrates the breadth of religious diversity in their stamps that the US does. Is there any other nation that issues stamps not only for the Christian celebration, but also for Hanukkah, and Eid?

The traditional US Christmas stamps (Madonna and Child) or Holy family is art and and has stood the test of time as art.. The contemporary US Christmas stamps are okay in that these stamps may remind us of the importance of family, home, and a happy time when we were kids..

I wouldn't think ANYBODY would think of making a stamp this Christian oriented for the populace nowadays. Halleluiah!