Family

The stamps illustrated on this folder are the first special Christmas issues in Canadian postal history. They will go on sale October 14th and will remain in use during the Christmas season. The stamps, which will be printed by the steel engraving intaglio process, will show a family group of a man, a woman and two children in silhouette, walking off towards a Christmas star in a typical Canadian winter scene. The design is intended to express the feeling of Christmas as a religious and family occasion, and at the same time to portray the scene in a Canadian environment. It is also meant to tie in with the study of the family's place in contemporary Canadian life which was held last summer under the sponsorship of the Governor General and Madame Vanier. Although Canada produced a stamp bearing the words "Xmas 1898" in 1898, the 1964 issues are the first Canadian postage stamps intended especially for use on Christmas mails. The three cent denomination is the stamp used for unsealed Christmas greeting cards, and the five cent value is the usual rate for first class or sealed letters. Both stamps will be the regular or small size, similar to general issue postage stamps. The five cent issue will be in blue, as are most firstclass rate stamps issued in Canada, and the three cent denomination will be in red. A total of 100 million five cent and 300 million three cent stamps will be printed. The stamps will be on sale at all Canadian post offices. The design selected was one of dozens of sketches submitted by leading Canadian artists and designers. It was created by the Canadian Bank Note Company Ltd., who also engraved the printed stamps.