When:

Saturday, September 14, 10:30 a.m. EDT

What:

The U.S. Postal Service will hold a special stamp ceremony at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum to unveil the highly anticipated 2024 Madonna and Child and Holiday Joy Christmas stamps.

These stamps capture the spirit of the season and celebrate both the traditional and contemporary aspects of holiday festivities.

The event will feature speeches by prominent postal officials and will be followed by the National Postal Museum’s Holiday Stamps Family Festival with guest artist Katie Kirk.

WHO:

Sheila Holman, vice president of marketing for the USPS, and Mark Guilfoil, vice president of supply management for the USPS, will serve as inauguration officials.

Where:

National Postal Museum
2 Massachusetts Avenue NE
Washington, DC 20002

Details:

The Madonna and Child stamp has been a popular part of the Postal Service’s Christmas stamp offering for decades, featuring iconic images of the Virgin Mary and Child from a variety of artistic traditions. This year’s design continues that tradition and offers a beautiful representation of this timeless theme.

Holiday Joy stamps offer a vibrant and festive way to create holiday greetings, with designs that evoke the joy and warmth of the holiday season.

The inauguration ceremony will also include a first day event where participants will have the opportunity to purchase the new stamps and have them canceled with a special first day cancellation.

The event is free and open to the public.

Visuals:

• The unveiling of the new stamps
• Speakers’ remarks
• A live festival for the whole family with a holiday theme
• Participants buy and cancel their stamps
• Autographs from guests of honour and VIPs

Answer:

Participants are requested to register at usps.com/holidaystampsceremony.

To ensure seating and access to interviews with event speakers and special guests, media representatives are asked to confirm their attendance. on the USPS website for media registration.

About the stamps

The Christmas Madonna and Child features the serene Madonna and Child from the workshop of the 17th century Italian artist Giovanni Battista Salvi, known as “Sassoferrato” (1609-1685). William Gicker was the artistic director and Greg Breeding designed the stamp, which is sold in booklets of 20.

“Holiday Joy,” four stamps inspired by Mexican folk art, were designed by Antonio Alcalá, a USPS art director, using original digital illustrations by Michelle Muñoz.

The “Christmas Madonna and Child” and “Holiday Joy” stamps are issued as “Forever” stamps, the value of which always corresponds to the current 1-ounce rate for First Class Mail.



Postal products

Customers can purchase stamps and other philatelic products online at The Post Officeby phone at 844-737-7826 or at post offices nationwide. For officially licensed stamp products, purchase the Officially licensed USPS collection. on Amazon.

For more information about stamps, first day celebrations and stamp-inspired products, visit StampsForever.com.

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