[press release]
U.S. Postal Service Letters FROM Santa Program Provides Santa’s Personalized Response to Your Child’s Letter
Great Photo Opportunity to Treasure for Years
WASHINGTON — Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus — and the U.S. Postal Service can help you prove it when Santa replies to your child’s letter — complete with a North Pole postmark (right).
Here are the steps for your child to get a letter back from Santa:
- Have your child write a letter to Santa and place it in an envelope addressed to: Santa Claus, North Pole.
- Later, when alone, open the envelope and write a personalized response.
- Insert the response letter into an envelope and address it to the child.
- Add the return address: SANTA, NORTH POLE, to the envelope.
- Affix a First-Class Mail stamp to the envelope, such as one of the new holiday stamps.
- Place the complete envelope into a larger envelope — preferably a Priority Mail Flat Rate envelope — with appropriate postage and address it to:
North Pole Postmark
Postmaster
4141 Postmark Drive
Anchorage, AK 99530-9998
“Letters from Santa” must be received by the Anchorage, AK, postmaster no later than Dec. 15. Santa’s helpers at the Postal Service will take care of the rest.
Be sure to share the experience on social media using #LettersFromSanta.
Tips
- To save paper, write Santa’s response on the back of your child’s letter. If you keep them together, your child will also be able to recall what he or she wrote.
- When responding as Santa, make the response as personal as possible by highlighting your child’s accomplishments over the past year, for example, helping around the house, receiving good grades in a particular subject at school or participating in community service activities.
- This is a great activity to do at Thanksgiving that the whole family can enjoy, including parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles and other caregivers.
The Letters from Santa program adds to the excitement of Christmas and is ideal to interest children in letter writing, stamps and penmanship.
A familiar sight on public buildings and private homes alike, the American flag has been portrayed in myriad ways on U.S. postage. This stamped envelope features a graphic design of the flag that evokes a rich sense of history even as it presents a recognizable icon in a fresh, contemporary way. Kit Hinrichs created the artwork for this stamped envelope. Ethel Kessler served as art director.
A familiar sight on public buildings and private homes alike, the American flag has been portrayed in myriad ways on U.S. postage. This stamped envelope features a graphic design of the flag that evokes a rich sense of history even as it presents a recognizable icon in a fresh, contemporary way. Kit Hinrichs created the artwork for this stamped envelope. Ethel Kessler served as art director.
The California dogface graces the seventh non-machineable butterfly stamp for use on irregularly sized envelopes, such as square greeting cards, invitations or announcements. The stamp art was digitally created using images of preserved butterflies as a starting point. The result is a highly stylized, simplified image of a California dogface (Zerene eurydice) rather than an exact replica. Nationally known artist Tom Engeman created the stamp art. Art director Derry Noyes designed the stamp.
On January 27, 2019, in Kansas City, MO, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the California Dogface stamp (Non-denominated priced at the Non-machineable Surcharge rate) in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of 20 stamps (Item 120100). The stamp will go on sale nationwide January 27, 2019, and must not be sold or cancelled before the first-day-of-issue.
It measures 2.98″x1.39″.
Four new postcard stamps celebrate the beauty and wonder of coral reefs. Each stamp depicts a type of stony coral, along with associated reef fish, in a highly stylized manner: elkhorn coral, shown with two French angelfish; brain coral, with a spotted moray eel; staghorn coral, with bluestriped grunts; pillar coral, with a coney grouper and neon gobies. Art director Ethel Kessler designed the stamps. Tyler Lang created the stamp art.
Format: Pane of 20 (4 designs)
It measures 2.90″ x 1.39″
With this Priority Mail Express stamp, the Postal Service commemorates the Bethesda Fountain, one of Central Park’s most iconic structures. Dedicated in 1873, the fountain is a gathering place beloved by New Yorkers and out-of-town visitors alike. The stamp art features a stylized depiction of the fountain. The illustration was first rendered as a pencil sketch and then scanned and finished digitally. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamp with original art by Dan Cosgrove.
On January 27, 2019, in Kansas City, MO, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the $25.50 Bethesda Fountain Priority Mail Express stamp in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of four stamps (Item 129900). The stamp will go on sale nationwide January 27, 2019, and must not be sold or cancelled before the first-day-of-issue.
The Digital Color Postmark measures 2.19″x1.41″. 
The B&W pictorial measures 2.84″1.42″.
Celebrating the desolate beauty of the Joshua tree (Yucca brevifolia) and its distinct desert environment, this Priority Mail stamp depicts a common scene throughout much of the Mojave and Sonoran Deserts. Using the bold colors of the sun’s reflection off the trees, rocks, and other shrubby vegetation, artist Dan Cosgrove illuminates the desert scene in warm, golden hues. Art director Greg Breeding designed the stamp.
On January 27, 2019, in Kansas City, MO, the U.S. Postal Service will issue the $7.35 Joshua Tree Priority Mail stamp in one design, in a pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) pane of four stamps (Item 120000). The stamp will go on sale nationwide January 27, 2019, and must not be sold or cancelled before the first-day-of-issue.
The Digital Color Postmark measures 1.44″x1.48″. 
The B&W Pictorial measures 2.98″x1.21″.
The Winter Berries booklet of 20 stamps celebrates four of winter’s small yet vibrant offerings: the winterberry (Ilex verticillate), the juniper berry (Juniperus communis), the beautyberry (Callicarpa Americana) and the soapberry (Sapindus Saponaria). The stamp art features highly detailed botanical portraits of each plant that highlight the bold colors and rich textures of their berries. Artist Steve Buchanan worked with art director Antonio Alcalá to create these four new stamps.
The Winter Berries booklet of 20 stamps celebrates four of winter’s small, yet vibrant offerings:
The Digital Color Postmark measures 2.53″ x 1.30″ 
The B&W Pictorial Postmark measures 2.02″ x 0.89″
This stamp issuance celebrates the 50th anniversary of the Woodstock Music and Art Fair, held in the small farming community of Bethel, New York, in August 1969. It was the most famous rock fair in history and an expression of the youth counterculture of the 1960s. The stamp art, designed by art director Antonio Alcalá¡, features the image of the dove from graphic artist Arnold Skolnick’s promotional 1969 poster for the fair along with some of the poster’s words: “3 Days of Peace and Music.” In the stamp art the words are stacked in the background in brilliant colors along with the year 1969, USA, and Forever (the value of the stamp). The white dove stands in the foreground.
A 50th anniversary reunion festival is planned for August 15-18, 2019, in Watkins Glen, NY (about 115 miles WNW or 150 miles driving).
The Digital Color Postmark measures 2.93″x1.43″
The B&W pictorial measures 2.96″x1.37″
The “special” postmark, for local offices to use, measures 2.814″x1.37″
Four whimsical se-tenant stamps celebrate the fun of America’s state and county fairs. The stamps were designed to work together as a panorama of fair activities, while each stamp also works as an individual picture. The stamp on the far left shows farmers unloading produce behind a white fence. In the second stamp, a child holding a chicken sits atop the same fence, with carnival rides — a Ferris wheel and merry-go-round — in the background. Those rides can be seen in the third stamp, where some fairgoers admire the livestock behind the fence while others walk, balloons in hand, toward a sweets stand. The last stamp shows children at the stand buying treats from the vendor. The art director was Greg Breeding. Mike Ryan designed the stamps with original art by Mick Wiggins.
The Digital Color Postmark for this issue measures 2.24″x1.49″ 
The B&W pictorial measures 2.29″x1.49″
In 2019, the Postal Service issues Frogs, four new stamps in a booklet of 20, featuring digital illustrations of four North American frogs: the Pacific tree frog, the northern leopard frog, the American green tree frog and the squirrel tree frog. Working with a primarily green color palette and touches of brown, artist Nancy Stahl captured the essence of each animal with enough important defining features to make each recognizable. Art director William J. Gicker designed the stamps.
illustrations of four North American frogs:
The DCP cancel measures 2.78″x1.40″ 
The B&W Pictorial measures 2.58″x1.07″
