Not only will the post office on Duke of Gloucester Street mail your Christmas cards, it will also add a personal 18th-century stamp of approval to your holiday wishes. Oh, and don’t forget to drop off your letters to Santa!
While many of you were enjoying Grand Illumination, I was busy addressing our 2014 Christmas cards. This year, I chose to mail them from the Colonial Williamsburg Post Office. After all, what better way to share my exciting career change with family and friends than with a hand-canceled stamp featuring an 18th-century postmark?
One of my cards will travel all the way from the colonial capital to Bahrain! That’s where a naval officer very special to our family will be stationed this Christmas. Postage to send it overseas was $1.15.
My cards aren’t the only ones that will head to distant destinations. In a recent interview, interpreter Karen Barclay said they hand cancel up to 2,000 cards a day at the Colonial Williamsburg Post Office during the holidays! Two things to keep in mind: You have to pay in cash for postage and if you have more than 20 cards, you need to buy your stamps elsewhere. Then bring them in, and get them hand canceled for free!
Now, here’s a special idea you may want to try with your family-whether you’re visiting us from out of state or you live locally. The post office accepts letters to Santa! Just make sure the envelope is sealed. Want to get the letter back as a keepsake? Encourage your child to address the envelope to the North Pole but underneath it, include your mailing address. After all, Santa can always use an extra reminder of where to deliver all those toys (wink, wink).
From My Family to Yours!
Can’t make it to the post office? www.history.org has created a gallery of holiday postcards you can send online!
What a lovely family and photo !!!
Thank you so much Sharon. Merry Christmas to you and your family!
I wish I had known …
Just returned from another trip to Colonial Williamsburg; next year I will be bringing my cards for the Colonial Williamsburg “stamp”. It will accent the greetings cards that will picture Williamsburg!
Bobbi - I wish you’d known too! Yes, be sure to bring all of yours to us next year. And don’t forget that if you have more than 20, you should bring them with the postage stamps already applied. I hope you and your family have a Merry Christmas!