Front:
EHINGION
ОСТ
19
1989
CHRISTMAR006bCHRISTMAS
USA25
^25
USA'
Carracci, National Gallery
Carracci, National Gallery
WASHI
Greetings USA25
HESTPORT
OCT
19
1989
Greetings USA25
06880
CT
Back:
CHRISTMAS CONTEMPORARY
First Day of Issue: October 19, 1989
First Issue Location: Westport, Connecticut
For twenty-eight Christmas seasons, America's Christmas
stamps have brightened the holidays. And in 1989 the
legacy continued — though with a new twist adapted to
America's changing needs. For the first time, the two
annual Christmas stamps— traditional and contemporary
- were issued in two formats: sheet and booklet, creating
four new stamps for 1989. The new booklet format made
it easier for holiday mailers to purchase their Christmas
stamps through automated vending machines in post
offices and stores. The appearance of the booklet also led
to another interesting first — the U.S. Postal Service split
the printing of the 1989 Christmas issue between its usual
government printer and a private company. American
Bank Note Company, the private firm which produced
the contemporary sheet, printed it in five colors rather
than the usual four, giving the 1989 contemporary sheet
version. Both are presented on this Maximum Card—the
American Bank Note stamp contains genta.
No. 89-33
©1989 The Maximum Card Collection
A Division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007
Original painting by Tom McNeely
CHRISTMAS TRADITIONAL
First Day of Issue: October 19, 1989
First Issue Location: Washington, D.C.
No figures in the Christmas story are more enchanting
than the choirs of angels. They burst upon the simple
shepherds with a joy that proclaims the glory of God,
while also speaking of his care for humanity. During the
first four Christian centuries, angels were shown only as
described in Scripture — handsome, beardless, ordinarily
attired, and standing or moving human-like upon the
ground. As Christian beliefs about angels began to merge
with those in the surrounding world, wings appeared. In
the Middle Ages, angels turned severe-looking. With the
Renaissance, the facial features softened and angels
became joyous boys with curling hair — in time turning
feminine in appearance. In his cachet artwork for this
Maximum Card, which bears America's 1989 Christmas
Traditional stamp in sheet and booklet versions, artist
Tom McNeely captures angels at the height of western
tradition-glowing with gold and light, and proclaiming
with their celestial music the message of “Peace on earth,
good will to men."
No. 89-32
©1989 The Maximum Card Collection
A Division of Unicover Corporation • Cheyenne, WY 82008-0007
Original painting by Tom McNeely
