Postal Service unveils a variety of holiday stamps

The U.S. Postal Service has unveiled a variety of holiday-themed Forever stamps.

“Writing greeting cards has been a cherished holiday family tradition since the 1800s,” said U.S. Postal Service Director of Stamp Services Mary-Anne Penner. “No matter what the occasion, we hope Americans will take advantage of our unique selection of Forever stamps as they extend their best wishes to friends, family and loved ones.”

Stamps may be purchased online at usps.com/shop or by calling 1-800-STAMP24 (800-782-6724).

The holiday and special occasion stamps offered this season are: Christmas Carols, Colorful Celebrations, Diwali, Eid Greetings, Florentine Madonna and Child, Hanukkah, Holiday Windows, Kwanzaa, Nativity, Neon Celebrate!, Patriotic Spiral, The Snowy Day and Songbirds in Snow.

Four Christmas Carols stamps illustrate a major theme of each of four beloved carols: “Jingle Bells,” “Deck the Halls,” “Silent Night,” and “Jolly Old Saint Nicholas.”

Ten "Colorful Celebrations" stamps feature digitally created designs with patterns that showcase geometric shapes, flowers and birds. The stamp designs come in one of four colors: blue, orange, purple and fuchsia. Papel picado, an intricate art form that was developed in Mexico, inspired stamp artist Atzin Gaytan. The Spanish term papel picado translates to “pierced paper.”

Also known as Deepavali, the Hindu festival Diwali celebrates the triumph of good over evil. A Forever stamp features a photograph of a traditional diya oil lamp lit, sitting on a sparkling gold background. Diya lamps, used in Diwali celebrations, are usually made from clay with cotton wicks dipped in a clarified butter known as “ghee” or in vegetable oils.

Featuring a design that evokes centuries of tradition, the Eid Greeting stamp commemorates the two most important festivals — or eids — in the Islamic calendar: Eid al-Fitr and Eid al-Adha. The gold-colored calligraphy on this Forever stamp was created by renowned calligrapher Mohamed Zakariya of Arlington, Va. The script reads Eidukum mubarak, “May your Eid be bountiful (or blessed).”

The Florentine Madonna and Child stamp features a detail of Madonna and Child, a 15th-century tempera-on-panel painting dated to circa 1470 and created by an anonymous artist known only as “a Follower of Fra Filippo Lippi and Pesellino.”

The Hanukkah stamp features an elegant illustration of a holiday menorah in the window of a home. Traditionally, the menorah is displayed in a doorway or window to proclaim the miracle of Hanukkah. Hanukkah spans eight nights and days of remembrance and ritual. The eight nights and days of Hanukkah begin on the 25th of Kislev in the Hebrew calendar, a date that falls in late November or December. Hanukkah begins this year at sundown Dec. 12.

Four Holiday Windows stamps display warm, inviting illustrations of winter scenes featuring windows.

The Kwanzaa stamp celebrates the annual non-religious holiday that will be observed during seven days from Dec. 26 to Jan. 1. First celebrated in 1966, Kwanzaa derives its name from the phrase “first fruits” in Swahili and honors the African-American family, community and culture.

The Nativity stamp art depicts a peaceful image of the Holy Family silhouetted against a dawn sky. The baby Jesus lies in a straw-filled manger in the center of the picture with Mary kneeling to the right and Joseph standing to the left, holding a lantern. A bright star shines over the scene.

The Neon Celebrate stamp features a colorful design depicting neon and glass.

The Patriotic Spiral stamp features 50 blue and red stars spiraling around a central gold star on a white background. The idea for the design was to illustrate a community of stars protectively orbiting a central star.

The U.S. Postal Service showcases the work of Ezra Jack Keats’ most beloved story, The Snowy Day, on four Forever stamps. Written and illustrated by the celebrated children’s author, it was one of the first prominent 20th-century picture books devoted to an African-American child. Each of the stamps features a different illustration of main character Peter exploring and playing in his neighborhood while wearing his iconic red snowsuit. The images include: Peter forming a snowball, Peter sliding down a mountain of snow, Peter making a snow angel and Peter leaving footprints in the snow.

The Songbirds in Snow stamps feature the golden-crowned kinglet, the cedar waxwing, the northern cardinal and the red-breasted nuthatch. One of the birds, the northern cardinal, is the state bird for Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and West Virginia.