The tradition began in 1967, when the United States Postal Service debuted a special Christmas stamp at the Bethlehem post office with a ceremony that included then-governor of Georgia Lester Maddox and Assistant U.S. Postmaster General Richard J. Murphy. While it was the sixth Christmas stamp produced by the US Postal Service, it was the first Christmas stamp to be produced in the larger commemorative size, which is almost twice the size of the previous Christmas stamp. The stamp was a reproduction of Hans Memling's Madonna and Child with Angels. Despite only regularly employing the postmaster and one other part-time employee in a town that at the time had around 350 people, this stamp was requested by so many people that the town's postmaster hired 43 temporary workers to handle the increased workload caused by people sending in their mail to Bethlehem to be re-sent out with the Christmas stamp's first-day-of-issue date of November 6. The Bethlehem post office ultimately sent out around 500,000 cards and letters during the 1967 Christmas season.
The tradition began in 1967 when the United States Postal Service debuted a special Christmas stamp at the Bethlehem post office with a ceremony that included then-governor of Georgia Lester Maddox and Assistant US Postmaster General Richard J Murphy While it was the sixth Christmas stamp produced by the US Postal Service it was the first Christmas stamp to be produced in the larger commemorative size which is almost twice the size of the previous Christmas stamp The stamp was a reproduction of Hans Memling's Madonna and Child with Angels Despite only regularly employing the postmaster and one other part-time employee in a town that at the time had around 350 people this stamp was requested by so many people that the town's postmaster hired 43 temporary workers to handle the increased workload caused by people sending in their mail to Bethlehem to be re-sent out with the Christmas stamp's first-day-of-issue date of November 6 The Bethlehem post office ultimately sent out around 500000 cards and letters during the 1967 Christmas season