42c Holiday Nutcrackers: Santa Claus Nutcracker single

On October 23, 2008, in New York, New York, the Postal Service issued a 42-cent Holiday Nutcrackers stamp in four designs. Derry Noyes of Washington, DC, designed the stamps.

Nutcrackers have existed for centuries. They range from simple utilitarian devices to elaborate collectibles, with a host of creations that fall somewhere between. During the winter holiday season, nutcrackers of all shapes and sizes are familiar sights in toy stores, on Christmas trees, on mantel pieces, on book and magazine covers, and in performance venues. Four eye-catching nutcracker designs -- Santa, a king, a captain, and a drummer -- added colorful, humorous touches to winter holiday correspondence in 2008.

The stamps were issued in the following formats: pressure-sensitive adhesive (PSA) double-sided booklet of twenty stamps; PSA folded vending booklet of twenty stamps; Automatic Teller Machine (ATM) sheetlet of eighteen stamps.

A total of 1.3 billion stamps were printed in the offset process with microprinting "USPS" by Banknote Corporation of America/SSP.

Reference:

Postal Bulletin (September 25, 2008).

unused