Christmas postmarks include reindeer pulling a mail truck

By Michael Baadke 

The previous Postmark Pursuit column, in the Dec. 12 Linn’s Stamp News, included about a dozen pictorial postmarks offering Christmas, Diwali, and winter themes.

The festivities continue in this week’s column, which presents a new batch of postmarks for the holidays.

The Geiger Postal History Foundation of Gaylord, Mich., is sponsoring a postmark that includes two happy reindeer providing a little extra horsepower to a familiar-looking United States Postal Service mail delivery truck.

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The truck has a few added elements, such as an inscription that reads “Letters to Santa,” plus a map of Michigan’s lower peninsula depicting the location of the 45th parallel, which runs just south of Gaylord.

The Dec. 3 postmark also includes the wording, “Halfway to the North Pole 45th Parallel Station.”

To obtain this postmark, which has been granted a 30-day extension, address your request to:

HALFWAY TO THE NORTH POLE 45th PARALLEL Station, Postmaster, Box 9998, Gaylord, MI 49735-9998, Dec. 3.

The following cancels are also available:

PAGEANT Station, 18 W. Central, Springfield, MN 56087-9998, Dec. 9. (Square postmark with flying dove, “Nativity Pageant 2016.”)

CHRISTMAS IN A RAILROAD TOWNE Station, Postmaster, 500 S. Seventh St., Opelika, AL 36801-9998, Dec. 9. (Circular postmark showing Santa Claus.)

MIFFLINBURG Station, Postmaster, 10 N. Fourth St., Mifflinburg, PA 17844-9998, Dec. 9-10, 12. (Christmas symbols including church in Seiffen, Germany, Christmas nutcracker, Christmas candle pyramid; “Christkindl Market 2016,” “Germany’s Craft Capital.”)

HOLIDAY Station, Postmaster, 236 Coolidge Memorial Road, Plymouth, VT 05056-9998, Dec. 10. (Circular postmark with six large snowflakes.)

ALLAIRE VILLAGE Station, Postmaster, 66 Main St., Farmingdale, NJ 07727-9998, Dec. 11. (Village buildings, “Christmas at Allaire.”)

CORINNA BICENTENNIAL Station, Postmaster, 15 Exeter Road, Corinna, ME 04928-9998, Dec. 11. (Stewart Free Library belfry with clock, “Corinna, Maine Bicentennial 1816-2016.”)

STATE OF INDIANA 200th ANNIVERSARY Station, Postmaster, 201 S. Sugar St., Brownstown, IN 47220-9998, Dec. 11. (County map of Indiana with Jackson County highlighted, star to indicate location of Brownstown, “The Bicentennial 1816-2016,” “Harvesting Our History and Cultivating The Future.”)

50th ANNIVERSARY Station, Postmaster, 2635 Napa St., Vallejo, CA 94590-9998, Dec. 16. (Submarine silhouette, California grizzly bear in front of missile, two orbiting electrons.)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS Station, Postmaster, 208 Main St., Wing, ND 58494-9998, Dec. 19. (Santa Claus head in circular postmark with wavy lines.)

50th ANNIVERSARY Station, Postmaster, 401 Market St., Camden, NJ 08103-9998, Dec. 20. (Submarine silhouette, “USS Guardfish SSN-612.”)

The following cancels were granted 30-day extensions:

COSTA MESA Station, Postmaster, 1590 Adams Ave., Costa Mesa, CA 92628-9998, Nov. 11. (Saluting soldier silhouette, four stars, “Distinguished Medals of Honor.”)

INDIA ASSOCIATION OF ST. LOUIS Station, Attention: Retail, 1720 Market St., Room 2033, St. Louis, MO 63155-9998, Nov. 20. (Gateway Arch, illuminated diya [candle], Om symbol within ornate rounded framework.)

CHRISTMAS IN ODESSA Station, Postmaster, 312 Main St., Odessa, DE 19730-9998, Dec. 3. (Nutcracker and mouse king within round frame decorated with holly and pine.)

CHRISTMAS IN THE VILLAGE FESTIVAL Station, Postmaster, Box 9998, Roscommon, MI 48653-9998, Dec. 3. (Light pole with garland decoration, “39th annual.”)

CHRISTMAS PARADE Station, 1601 Long Beach Blvd., Unit 1, Ship Bottom, NJ 08008-9998, Dec. 3. (Open clam shell filled with wrapped gifts, “A Shell of a Christmas,” “37th annual.”)

VICTORIAN STROLL Station, Postmaster, 400 Broadway, Troy, NY 12180-9998, Dec. 4. (Wreath forming O in Troy, “Thirty-fourth annual.”)

ALLAIRE VILLAGE Station, Postmaster, 66 Main St., Farmingdale, NJ 07727-9998, Dec. 4. (Village buildings, “Christmas at Allaire.”)

Share information by writing to Postmark Pursuit, Box 4129, Sidney, OH 45365.

Instructions for requesting postmarks

Linn’s subscribers can see complete instructions for requesting postmarks here.