Over a month ago, I began looking at Christmas stamps in preparation to designing my own “Christmas in Thailand” issue for the Muang Phuket Local Post.  In doing so, I was instantly transported back to my youth and became rather nostalgic for Christmases past.  All that I love about the holiday is captured in miniature on the postal emissions of the world.  I wanted to share that feeling on this blog, along with the beautiful designs of some of my favorite Yuletide stamps.

What I found is that how Christmas is portrayed on stamps is remarkably varied and seems to have improved over the years.  A number immediately announced themselves as instant favorites.  I became enthralled with the “Santa in the tropics” theme on the issues of Christmas Island, an Australian territory.  And while I’ve always enjoyed the Madonna and Child releases from the United States, several of America’s 2013 holiday stamps now count as all-time favorites (gingerbread houses, Mary and Joseph in particular).

Soon, I hit upon the idea of “The 12 Stamps of Christmas” , a series of blog articles counting down my favorites with the first appearing on this Saturday and continuing until Christmas Day (and I may continue through the traditional twelve days of Christmas until Twelfth Night, perhaps adding a few favorite New Years stamps).

I had planned to research the story behind each stamp and include this information along with images of the stamps themselves.  However, I simply haven’t had enough free time lately to really do this the justice it deserves (and I’ve struggled narrowing the list down to the Top 12). My heavy schedule shows no sign of slowing down until the end of January at the earliest (I do have a few days off right at New Years but I have no plans to be anywhere near a computer).

Thus, the holiday stamp stories will have to wait for another year.  For 2013, I will simply present twelve random favorite Christmas issues with minimal commentary, starting this week.  Watch for them….

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