Royal Mail’s press release boosts send your Christmas card message
The first festive stamps with King Charles III’s silhouette went on sale yesterday, 2 November, featuring designs from Christmas carols and familiar lyrics.
Illustrator Tom Duxbury created the stamp designs using the carols O Holy Night, O Little Town Of Bethlehem, Silent Night, Away In A Manger, and We Three Kings exclusively for Royal Mail – and there’s added fun as the barcodes allow people to watch a seasonal themed video of Shaun The Sheep and his pals sending festive cheer to the farmer’s dog.
“For many, the launch of the annual Christmas stamps is the signal to begin writing those Christmas cards,” David Gold, Royal Mail’s director of external affairs and policy, said in the official launch press release, echoing the messaging of the GCA’s #Cardmitment campaign.
“The charming style of these designs, which were inspired by the carols that are so familiar to us all, set the perfect tone for the festive season,” David added.
Tom, who specialises in woodblock printing to depict both vintage and modern scenes, said: “It’s been a privilege to illustrate the first set of Christmas stamps to bear the silhouette of His Majesty King Charles III.
“The theme of Nativity became a chance to create rich, luminous nightscapes. They echo my own experiences of being out in nature at night – especially the moors where I live. This time and place holds a special kind of feeling; that of stillness, softness, and magic.”
The first Christmas special stamps were released in 1966 using designs from a children’s art competition which was launched on long-running BBC children’s TV programme Blue Peter.
The latest festive stamps are now on sale at 7,000 post offices and to set up the barcode to watch the video Aardman studio video both the sender and recipient should download the Royal Mail App. The sender can then select the Christmas video for the recipient to watch just by scanning the stamp barcode, as David said, giving that “someone specials something extra to smile about when they receive their post this Christmas”.
The latest recommended posting dates for UK mail to arrive in time for Christmas Day 2023 is Monday, 18 December, for second class, and Tuesday, 19 December, for first class, with special delivery guaranteed on Friday, 22 December.
The GCA has produced a Last Posting Dates tent card to help retailers as part of its #Cardmitment toolkit, and it’s available to download from the association website or physical copies are available from Abacus, Belly Button, Caroline Gardner, Emotional Rescue, Great British Card Company/Ling, Hallmark, Ohh Deer, Paper Salad, Paperlink, Raspberry Blossom, Ricicle Cards, Second Nature, Stormy Knight and UKG.
