Sweden 1978 - Christmas

There is some debate among stamp collectors as to when the first Christmas themed stamp was issued. Some believe it to be the 1898 Canadian map issue overprinted Xmas 1898. But technically this stamp had no real connection to Christmas. It was issued to inaugurate the beginning of Imperial Penny Postage. Others feel the 1935 British Forces in Egypt stamp overprinted Xmas 1935 was the first stamp actually issued for Christmas.  Both of the above issues are candidates, but the first stamps bearing a Christmas theme were issued in Austria in 1937. Many countries went on to issue one-off Christmas stamps, but it was Australia that started the yearly Christmas stamp issue in 1957.

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On 14 November 1978, Sweden issued a set of four Christmas stamps. Two stamps in this set were engraved by Martin Mörck.

The 90ö stamp depicts a Ferris Wheel Meccano set. Meccano brings back a lot of  fond memories for me. I had a basic set back in the 70's, absorbing me for many an imaginative hour. Meccano was created by Frank Hornby in Liverpool, United Kingdom way back in 1898 (bizarrely the same year as the first "Christmas" stamp). Meccano has been popular with kids ever since, and until the dawn of computer games, made a great Christmas gift. 

The Meccano Ferris Wheel depicted in the below stamp is based on a 1957 shop display piece, which revolved. The model measured 66cm high by 50cm wide by 57cm deep. I love that Mörck has engraved a bunch of spare bits into the composition, seen bottom right.

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The 1,30kr value depicts a timeless favourite, the teddy bear. The teddy bear gets its name from US President, Theodore Roosevelt, who was nicknamed, Teddy, a name he loathed. Apparently, the story goes that while on a hunting trip in Mississippi in 1902, the group Roosevelt was hunting with cornered a black bear and tied it to a tree. When asked to shoot the bear Roosevelt refused, deeming the act 'unsportsmanlike'. A political cartoonist, Clifford Berryman, got wind of the story and drew a satirical cartoon for Washington Post. Toymaker, Morris Michtom, inspired by the cartoon, made a soft bear toy and placed it in a shop window with the name 'Teddy's Bear'. Amazingly, at the same time across the pond in Germany, a guy by the name of Richard Steiff, designed and produced his own version of a stuffed toy bear, which was exhibited at the Leipzig Toy Fair in March 1903. The rest, as they say, is history. 

Until next time...