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.