A Christmas Cover

Merry Christmas to all.

rwoodennickel,

Merry Christmas to you as well!
Thanks for sharing that cover.
I wondered how they received a Dec. 25th
postmark. I would have thought the post office
would be closed on that day? I did enjoy seeing
it this morning.

Bob

May be that it was cancelled in advance of the 25th, or the post office Dept. were real men back in the day and worked holidays.

But Fellas, Santa Clause always works on Christmas day.

I'm sure that back in the day the Postmaster in that city did, and perhaps still does, cancel letters for collectors on the day prior to Christmas using the next days date stamp.

Merry Christmas to one and all!

There is no doubt with the mail volume that obvious collector-request mail to places like Santa Claus is cancelled as it arrives and is held for dispatch until December 25. The integrity of the postmark date would dictate such.

We often judge finding a Jan 1, July 4, Dec 25 cancel by today's standards. Here are scans from the 1948 Postal Laws and Regulations showing that define holiday service - and show that post offices were open for limited service on Federal Holidays.

Limited window service:


No rural delivery:


Special Delivery still happened:


So finding non-philatelic Christmas postmarks is not uncommon if you keep your eyes open.