Do you recall the days leading up to Christmas when the postmen on their bicycles came along with their sack stuffed with cards? If you were lucky, you might even have received a letter from Santa in the post. Working in all weathers, as they still do today, it was only as late as 1960 that they did not have to deliver on Christmas Day!
I wonder how many of us can remember when the Post Office issued their first festive stamps in response to requests from the general public. It was in 1966 that a competition was held for children to design the first stamps and there were over 5000 entrants. These are the winning designs:
Over the years there was a pattern of alternating religious and secular themes and these included details from religious paintings, the Christmas story, angels, stained glass windows and Christmas carols – you may remember ‘Good King Wenceslas’ and ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’.
Here are some other Christmas stamp designs - how many do you remember?
All the volunteers of Crantock Memory Café wish you a Merry Christmas, and look forward to meeting up again, when safe to do so, in 2022.