In a few more weeks we’ll all be gobbling turkey like there’s no tomorrow. The day after that a hundred million people will descend upon the malls of America to scarf up all of the great Black Friday deals. Yes, the holidays are approaching fast!
Another sure sign of the season is the issuance of the 2011 holiday stamps by the US Post Office. If you’re not the religious type or you just don’t like paintings by those old European guys, you can get stamps with four different colorful Christmas-tree ornaments. If you’re the religious type or you just like paintings by those old European guys, you can get stamps showing a detail from the painting, Madonna of the Candelabra, by Raphael.
Since this is America, you can even get stamps for non-Christmas or non-Christian celebrations. African-Americans can mark their celebration of Kwanzaa with a colorful stamp, Jews can decorate their envelopes with a playful Hanukkah stamp, and Muslims can proudly mark the celebration of their religious festivals with an Eid stamp.
If you’re feeling creative or you’re just tired of using the traditional holiday stamps, you can make your own! Don’t worry; they’re legal. Check out how to make them at stamps.com. Tired of all those old guys on stamps? You can make some with pictures of you and your friends. Tired of Christmas tree ornaments on stamps? You can make some with a favorite scene of your own. Yes, they cost more, but for some holiday fun, what the heck!
By the way, we all know that the US Post Office is going broke, so the rest of the year I recommend you buy those old-fashioned stamps in order to keep our mail carriers gainfully employed. Postage will soon be going up a penny. People will complain. Congress always complains, especially conservatives, but hey, just try to get UPS or FedEx to deliver a letter for 45 cents. Not gonna happen.