Christmas Covers

And of course anyone who fills out a U.S. Poatal Service Form number 3615 for their local postmaster to approve can buy a cancellation device for their personal use and cancel their letters on any day of they year they like whether it is Christmas or the stroke of midnight on New Year's eve or Groundhog day or whatever. PS Form 3615 is a simple form to fill out and postmasters are required to approve it if it is correctly filled out and that is not hard if you have two forms of identification, is you can write your name and address on the form, if you promise to have your cancellation device conform to the general specifications laid out on the form, and if you can sign your name on the form. In other words it is really, really simple to be able to cancel your own stamps with your own cancellation device.

what is the cost of the cancellation device?

You can buy one from any place that makes rubber stamps but of course you need to give them the correct design that follows the rules set out in the Postal Regulations and so would be accepted by the Post Office. There are a couple of guys in the Mailer's Postmark Permit Club who make and sell them as well. Go to the MPPC webpage and in the FAQs section, FAQ number 9 includes a couple of email addresses for two of their members who make and sell them as well. http://www.mppclub.org/FAQ.htm You can look through their various pages on their website to get the full information on Mailer's Postmark Permits and how to use them. You can also join their membership if you decide to get one but it is not a requirement.

My favorite December 25 cover - Newark, Ohio, 1829.

Well I missed this and posted my Christmas cover in different section. I will put it here as well. Merry Christmas to all.

Still waiting for word on the cost of the cancellation evice

Did you email to one of the guys whose address is included in my response above? They will make one for you and they will tell you what they charge. However, you can have one made by any place that makes rubber stamps and the prices will vary from one place to the next. I think that you should be thinking in terms of maybe $30 to $40 depending on the quality of the stamp and what kind of place is making it for you.

Here is one of the dealers Kimo is referring to: http://www.wcp-nm.com/osc/catalog/a...6u2&x=0&y=0. He made the top one for me, and I love it.

How about these

On the last postcard I notice that the month was inserted upside down in the canceling device. I might guess that the postal clerk had been hitting the eggnog a bit too much that day, or maybe they were a bit miffed about having to work on Christmas day.