Canada Post Corp. has unveiled its stamp issuing programme for the rest of the year. Walt is happy to tell you that this year we're going to have some really nice, Christian Christmas stamps.
It hasn't always been so. Christmas stamps have been issued since the 1960s. For over four decades they have almost always featured religious and/or secular designs that bore some relationship to Christmas: nativity scenes, Santa Claus, Christmas trees, that kind of thing. And they have almost always carried the legend Christmas/Noël.
But in this century the winds of political correctness are blowing through Canada Post. In 2005 they decided to produce, in addition to a nice three-stamp set of creche figures (from St. Joseph's Oratory in Montréal), an "unChristmas" stamp with a nice picture of a snowman...and no reference to the holiday. So the heathen (surely "non-Christian", ed.) minority was appeased. Now they had their own "winter holiday stamp".
The next year, the position was reversed. Canada Post issued one small stamp marked "Christmas/Noël" showing the Falardeau Madonna and Child, and three "winter" stamps. Since the three-stamp set includes the stamps to be used on mail to the USA and overseas, people in those countries might well conclude that Canadians forgot about Christmas.
Quite understandably, Christians complained. "We're not a minority yet!", they said. And in 2007 we went back to the status quo ante, with one secular stamp and a set of three religious Christmas stamps.
And last year, Canada Post went the other way, with three "winter fun" stamps and one smaller (but very beautiful) Christmas stamp featuring a sculpture of the Baby Jesus created by Canadian sculptor Antonio Caruso. But at least the "winter fun" stamps had the words "Christmas/Noël" printed in the corner, in tiny type.
This year we're getting a beautiful set of three more sculptures from the nativity scene by Caruso, in a large format, bearing the words "Christmas/Noël". The anti-French gang will be annoyed that "Noël" is in much larger type than "Christmas", but then "Noël" is a word in English too. Right?
The Muslims, Hindus, Jews etc etc will have to make do with a smaller stamp featuring a Christmas tree. Or it might be a Hannukah bush. Who knows? But if you look closely, it does say "Christmas/Noël".
So...three cheers from Walt for an apparent end to overarching political correctness. May I be the first to wish you MERRY CHRISTMAS!
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