Envelopes and postcards postmarked on and mailed from a navy ship are commonly referred to as naval covers. The U.S. Navy has been a rich source of covers since the beginning of the 20th Century when Congress authorized the creation of shipboard post offices. In addition to outgoing and incoming mail for the sailors, these Navy post offices became to receive envelopes from collectors who wanted a to cancellation add to their collection. (This is can be achieved today for little more than the cost of a stamp for the cover and a stamp to mail it to the ship.)
 
By 1920, printed, stamped and hand-drawn designs were added to naval covers. These designs (cachets) quickly became both popular and collectible. The design may be generic in design or specific to a ship. However many event covers were created to commemorate keel layings, commissionings, and launches.
 
Morris Beck, a prolific and popular designer, created a cover of the 1943 launch of the USS Ticonderoga, for example. Beck was still in high school when he created the Ticonderoga. The dedicated artist continued developing designs until the late 70’s. It is believed that he created more than two thousand different naval and event covers during his 30-year career.
 
While not event covers per say, naval covers from ships stationed at Pearl Harbor are historically significant, as well as popular. Covers from fleet ships dated before the ‘date that will live in infamy.’ are plentiful and relatively low priced. However, covers from any of the ships postmarked near December 7, 1941 are quite rare and, as such, expensive. Naval covers from the USS Arizona are especially sought after.
 

You only need to take a quick look in your mailbox to know it’s that time of year again. Christmas is here, and the official USPS Christmas stamp is once again on the cover of holiday cards, letters, and packages. The 2007 USPS Christmas stamp is the newest entry in a long line of government-issued holiday collectibles.
 
The official Christmas stamp is a fine old tradition…but just how old is it? The answer really depends on how old you are. If you’re a baby boomer, the release of the first Christmas Stamp is a treasured childhood memory. So it can’t be that old…or can it? Yes it can. 
  Continue reading

According to Danish history, the idea for charitable Christmas seals came to a postal clerk as he sorted letters and cards on the eve of the holiday in 1903.
 
Holboll’s idea captured the imagination of Denmark’s king, Christian IX. The savvy monarch suggested that the first issue of the fundraising seals include the Danish queen’s picture as a sign that both he and his wife fully supported the idea. The royals were extremely popular and thanks in large part to their endorsement, Danes bought four million of the world’s first Christmas seals when they were issued a year later. That’s a lot of krone! (Danish currency)

The first U.S. Christmas seals were the work of Emily Bissell. She hoped to emulate the success she’d read about and bring support to a small TB facility in Delaware. Bissell found a powerful ally in Philadelphia newspaper man Leigh Mitchell Hodges who helped her promote the campaign. The seals were issued in 1907, featuring a classic wreath of holly in bright red. Public support was instantaneous and overwhelming. $3,000.00 was earned that first year.

In 1962, the USPS delivered a holiday gift of its own in its official Christmas stamp. During the stamp dedication ceremony, Postmaster General J. Edward Day said that the new issue was created in response to demand from postal customers. In previous years, stamps that conveyed the spirit of the season had proven popular with card senders who favored the 1958 Forest Conservation stamp with a deer in a wooded clearing and the 1960 stamp commemorating the 5th World Forest Congress, showing a stylized green tree resembling a fir.
 
Day also announced that the stamp would be the first in a series of Christmas stamps, thus instantly creating a popular and entertaining area of collecting. The Postal Service issued its first Hanukkah stamp in 1996, followed in 1997 by its first Kwanzaa.