Christmas Postmark

I've been getting mail with an unusual postmark. The first one or two letters that came had smudged postmarks, so I wasn't sure who that was...I thought it looked like The Grinch at first. Then, as more letters and Christmas cards arrived, I was able to see a clearer image and decided it was Kermit the Frog.

So, I did some checking into it...sure enough...that's Kermit.

According to the US Postal Service press release, Kermit the Frog said, “We’re excited to be helping the Postal Service make the holiday special for kids across the country. It’s the perfect way to celebrate.”

The postmark of Kermit the Frog will appear in the upper right-hand corner of holiday cards and letters mailed throughout the month of December.

“Helping Santa Claus is always a good idea, especially at this time of year,” added Fozzie Bear, who joined Kermit and Postmaster General John E. Potter in announcing the postmark earlier this month. Fozzie Bear saluted the Postal Service for 234 years of delivering holiday cheer — and saluted Santa, too, just to be on the safe side.

Collecting Postmarks

As a kid, I collected stamps. If I remember correctly, I ordered one or more of those packages of international stamps and sorted through many of the standard stamps that come in such collections, many of the same stamps over and over again. But, it was fun.

However, I must admit, I never gave much thought to postmarks until last week when I came across the Web site for the Postmark Museum, also known as the Margie Pfund Memorial Postmark Museum, located near Bellevue, Ohio.

The museum is affiliated with the Post Mark Collectors Club, which I also did not know existed.

But, when I discovered the hobby of postmark collecting, I started wondering what kind of special postmarks had been coming in the mail. I picked up a collection of old envelopes that I had stored for several years and started paying attention to the postmarks. These particular envelopes were from the late 1980s, early 1990s.

Right away, I noticed that several envelopes that had more than the traditional postmark. My favorite is one that says "Journey to a New Frontier...Collect Stamps." In the scan to the right, I've darkened it up a little so that you can see the postmark better. If you look closely, you can see a picture of the USS Enterprise from the TV show "Star Trek."

In looking around on the Post Mark Collectors Club Web site, I found a list that describes the different kinds of postmarks that people collect. These are called "Slogans," and the few I found in this one stack of envelopes also promote Goodwill, children's dental health and the 1992 Olympics, as well as stamp collecting. One from New York, N.Y., encourages citizens to "Include Your Apt. # for Better Service."

I did a quick check of the new mail I've been getting...not very many slogans. One from January says "Happy Holidays," and another has a quote by John Adams:

"Let us dare to read, think, speak and write"

The newer postmarks look like they were applied digitally and are more difficult to read, in my opinion.

Now that I know about postmark collecting, I'll have to take a look and see what all I have.