2016-11-19 Sat

Great Britain’s Christmas stamps for 2016 feature paper-cut sculptures made by Helen Musselwhite of Manchester, England celebrating the British holiday traditions. 18 months were spent to create these designs and the designer mentioned in a report that this was one of his favourite jobs of his career. 8 stamps were released which included a regular and large-size stamp each for first- and second-class mail, plus £1.05, £1.33, £1.52 and £2.25 denominations.

The two first-class stamps depict a robin or a “robin redbreast” which is symbolic to the Royal Mail at Christmas. The bird’s appearance is similar to the red coats worn by postmen in Victorian times when postmen were known as ‘red breasts’.

The two second-class stamps feature a snowman in a top hat and a blue woollen scarf, a carrot nose and sticks for his arms. A pair of mittens and snowflakes are depicted in the paper-cut frame around the snowman.

You can order the Christmas stamps from the Royal Mail’s shop on the Internet. Ordering information also is available from Royal Mail, Tallents House, 21 S. Gyle Crescent, Edinburgh, EH12 9PB, Scotland.

Royal Mail’s two agencies in the United States are Interpost, Box 420, Hewlett, NY 11557; and the British Stamp Service in North America, 1 Unicover Center, Cheyenne, WY 82008.