USPS promotes Christmas stamps on social media

The United States Postal Service has taken to social media to promote its stamps that celebrate Christmas.

Nov. 26 postings on Google+, Facebook and Twitter picture four U.S. stamps available for “Winter Holidays 2014” with a banner reading, “Traditional Christmas Stamps.”

The stamps pictured are all forever stamps: the 2011 Madonna of the Candelabra (Scott 4570), the 2013 Virgin and Child (4815), the 2013 Holy Family (4813) and the recently issued 2014 Christmas Magi.

“Do you like traditional Christmas stamps?” asks the USPS Stamps Facebook posting. “So do we! That’s why we have four stamps available this year that celebrate the birth and childhood of Jesus … ”

The posting recommends asking for the stamps at post offices, or ordering online from www.usps.com/stamps.

Despite issuing new stamps inscribed “Christmas” nearly every year since 1962, the Postal Service has been the subject of criticism, sometimes unfairly, for sidestepping use of the word “Christmas.”

Recent visitors to the USPS Stamps social media sites, however, are finding Christmas dominating Postal Service postings in November.

The strong presence of Christmas on USPS outreach in 2014 might be in response to an advertising poster distributed to post offices in 2013 that showed “holiday stamps” and pictured stamps inscribed “Hanukkah” and “Kwanzaa,” and a third stamp showing a gingerbread house but with no “Christmas” inscription.

After complaints about the Christmas omission were posted online, the Postal Service replied, “We apologize for not including all of our holiday religious-themed stamps due to design constraints,” and posted a link for stamp buyers to see the additional designs, including its Christmas stamps.

Along with the Christmas stamps pictured on Facebook, the Postal Service website is now offering four Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer stamps, four Winter Fun stamps, a Poinsettia stamp, a Silver Bells Wreath global forever stamp, Hanukkah stamps, Kwanzaa stamps and Eid Greetings stamps, plus holiday stamps from previous years showing Santa and his sleigh, and holiday baubles.