1982 20c Contemporary Christmas: Building a Snowman

# 2028 - 1982 20c Contemporary Christmas: Building a Snowman

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U.S. #2028
1982 20¢ Building a Snowman
Season's Greetings
Contemporary Christmas

  • From the 18th Contemporary Christmas issue
  • One of four stamps depicting children enjoying fun winter activities

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set: 
Season’s Greetings
Series:  Contemporary Christmas
Value: 
20¢, first-class rate
First Day of Issue: 
October 28, 1982
First Day City: 
Snow, Oklahoma
Quantity Issued: 
197,220,000
Printed by: 
Bureau of Engraving & Printing
Printing Method: 
Photogravure
Format: 
Panes of 50 in sheets of 200
Perforations:  11

 

Why the stamp was issued:  For use on winter and holiday mail.

 

About the stamp design:  The 1982 Seasons Greetings stamps express the popular theme that Christmas is a time for children.  Designed by Dolli Tingle, the Snowman stamp pictures five children in colorful jackets accompanied by two dogs as they build a snowman.

 

First Day City:  The First Day ceremony for the Season’s Greetings stamps was held at the Recreation Center in Snow, Oklahoma.

 

Unusual fact about this stamp:  Imperforate error stamps have been found.

 

About the Contemporary Christmas series:  The US issued its first Christmas stamp (picturing a wreath and candles) on November 1, 1962, and it was wildly popular.  The Post Office printed 350 million stamps, the largest print run for a special stamp up to that time, but still the stamps quickly sold out.  The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produced more to satisfy demand and the total number issued was over 860 million by the end of the year.

In 1966, the Post Office started issuing traditional themed Christmas stamps picturing the Madonna and Child and other religious icons.  In 1969, they switched back to non-religious Christmas designs with a stamp picturing the painting Winter Sunday in Norway, Maine

Finally, in 1970, the Post Office decided to permanently split Christmas stamps into two categories to satisfy everyone:  Traditional and Contemporary.  They issued a block of four stamps picturing Christmas toys along with a stamp picturing a classic painting of the Nativity.  The decision to do both proved popular, and the Post Office has continued to issue stamps in both categories ever since.

 

History the stamp represents:  Making a snowman is a time-honored winter tradition, as laughing children build and decorate the snowman.  If Mom (or Dad) is alert, then mugs of steaming hot cocoa (with marshmallows, please!) are waiting when the rosy-cheeked builders trudge back inside and shed their winter clothes.  Snowman construction, however, is more than child’s play; it is a serious feat of engineering.

 

First, the right kind of snow is needed for a snowman.  “Packing” snow needs to be moist and sticky.  If it’s too powdery, the snow won’t stick together.  To start a snowman, you need to make a snowball and keep packing snow on it until it’s too big to hold.  Then, set it on the ground and start rolling it around the yard, until it gets too heavy to move.  Make two similar balls of snow, each slightly smaller, and stack them on top of the first.  Nearly anything can be used to decorate and add detail to the snowman – carrot nose, sticks for arms, buttons for the mouth, and stones for the eyes.

 

So far, the largest snowman on record was built in Bethel, Maine, in 2008 and stood more than 122 feet high.  It was named after Senator Olympia Snowe.  It beat the old record set in 1999 (also in Bethel).  That year, “Angus, King of the Mountain,” was 113 feet high and weighed 9,000,000 pounds.

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U.S. #2028
1982 20¢ Building a Snowman
Season's Greetings
Contemporary Christmas

  • From the 18th Contemporary Christmas issue
  • One of four stamps depicting children enjoying fun winter activities

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Set: 
Season’s Greetings
Series:  Contemporary Christmas
Value: 
20¢, first-class rate
First Day of Issue: 
October 28, 1982
First Day City: 
Snow, Oklahoma
Quantity Issued: 
197,220,000
Printed by: 
Bureau of Engraving & Printing
Printing Method: 
Photogravure
Format: 
Panes of 50 in sheets of 200
Perforations:  11

 

Why the stamp was issued:  For use on winter and holiday mail.

 

About the stamp design:  The 1982 Seasons Greetings stamps express the popular theme that Christmas is a time for children.  Designed by Dolli Tingle, the Snowman stamp pictures five children in colorful jackets accompanied by two dogs as they build a snowman.

 

First Day City:  The First Day ceremony for the Season’s Greetings stamps was held at the Recreation Center in Snow, Oklahoma.

 

Unusual fact about this stamp:  Imperforate error stamps have been found.

 

About the Contemporary Christmas series:  The US issued its first Christmas stamp (picturing a wreath and candles) on November 1, 1962, and it was wildly popular.  The Post Office printed 350 million stamps, the largest print run for a special stamp up to that time, but still the stamps quickly sold out.  The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produced more to satisfy demand and the total number issued was over 860 million by the end of the year.

In 1966, the Post Office started issuing traditional themed Christmas stamps picturing the Madonna and Child and other religious icons.  In 1969, they switched back to non-religious Christmas designs with a stamp picturing the painting Winter Sunday in Norway, Maine

Finally, in 1970, the Post Office decided to permanently split Christmas stamps into two categories to satisfy everyone:  Traditional and Contemporary.  They issued a block of four stamps picturing Christmas toys along with a stamp picturing a classic painting of the Nativity.  The decision to do both proved popular, and the Post Office has continued to issue stamps in both categories ever since.

 

History the stamp represents:  Making a snowman is a time-honored winter tradition, as laughing children build and decorate the snowman.  If Mom (or Dad) is alert, then mugs of steaming hot cocoa (with marshmallows, please!) are waiting when the rosy-cheeked builders trudge back inside and shed their winter clothes.  Snowman construction, however, is more than child’s play; it is a serious feat of engineering.

 

First, the right kind of snow is needed for a snowman.  “Packing” snow needs to be moist and sticky.  If it’s too powdery, the snow won’t stick together.  To start a snowman, you need to make a snowball and keep packing snow on it until it’s too big to hold.  Then, set it on the ground and start rolling it around the yard, until it gets too heavy to move.  Make two similar balls of snow, each slightly smaller, and stack them on top of the first.  Nearly anything can be used to decorate and add detail to the snowman – carrot nose, sticks for arms, buttons for the mouth, and stones for the eyes.

 

So far, the largest snowman on record was built in Bethel, Maine, in 2008 and stood more than 122 feet high.  It was named after Senator Olympia Snowe.  It beat the old record set in 1999 (also in Bethel).  That year, “Angus, King of the Mountain,” was 113 feet high and weighed 9,000,000 pounds.