It is believed that the first Christmas stamp was issued in 1898 by Canada. Although not officially a Christmas stamp the stamp bore the inscription of “XMAS 1898”.
It was not until 1937 that the first official “Christmas greeting stamps” were in circulation. These were issued by Austria and featured a rose and zodiac signs. However in 1939 Brazil issued Christmas stamps featuring traditional Christmas designs of the three kings and an angel. The first stamps to appear depicting the Nativity were produced by Hungary in 1943.
It was not until the early 1950’s that the next set of Christmas stamps appeared and these were issued by Cuba. The designs on these stamps featured poinsettias, a Christmas plant, and bells. Other nations quickly followed suit and by the 1990’s 160 postal administrations were issuing Christmas stamps.
Nowadays Christmas stamps, as with a lot of stamps, have become very collectable and some, especially the earlier stamps, are in great demand by collectors throughout the world.
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