As reported (with photos) by Collectors Quest, the U.S. Postal Service is in the midst of issuing its 2009 holiday season stamps. Last week at the American Stamp Dealers Association show in New York it issued a set of four Winter Holiday stamps with non-religious designs on them-- a reindeer, a snowman, a gingerbread man and a toy soldier. Next week USPS will issue a Christmas stamp with a religious theme. It will feature a painting of Madonna and Child by the 17th century Italian painter Giovanni Sassoferrato. According to a USPS news release, this stamp will be issued Oct. 20 at the Hearst Castle in San Simeon, CA. The the Sassoferrato painting was acquired by William Randolph Hearst in 1926.
Also at the New York ASDA show last week, the Postal Service issued a new Hanukkah stamp featuring a Menorah with nine lit candles and a new brightly colored Kwanzaa stamp. A second Christmas stamp featuring an angel playing a lute was originally also going to be issued this year, but was dropped because of the Postal Service's budget problems. (Stamp News 3/19/2009.)
