1320. 🇬🇧 Excellent Christmas Set To Be Issued By Royal Mail.

🇬🇧 Royal Mail will issue a splendid set of 7 self-adhesive stamps and 1 gummed miniature sheet on 1 November 2018 for use on Christmas mail. The issue works on several levels. The wonderful illustrations by Andrew Davidson give the feeling of Christmases a few decades ago (though the clothing depicted is very much that of 2018) when there was a kinder, gentler Britain, the streets were free of motor cars and families shared their Christmas preparations - men carried the Christmas tree home over their shoulders, brothers walked to the post box to mail their Christmas cards, old ladies and their cocker spaniels posted their cards in 1930s suburbs, choir boys in full costumes ran to catch the last mail of the day and it snowed across the kingdom in time for Christmas Day. Ahhhh......

  I like the issue too because of its postal history subject with the depiction of post boxes from every reign from that of Queen Victoria onwards. I particularly like the 2nd Class stamps which feature an Edward VII post box because I have one such post box just about 50 yards away from where I live.

  The issue was lithographed by International Security Printers and is perforated 14.5 x 15. There will be two booklets of self-adhesive stamps - 12 x 1st Class and 12 x 2nd class.

  An excellent issue - I can't wait to start writing my Christmas cards! Rating:- *****.

  See also Blog 1306.

 🇲🇾 Pos Malaysia issued a set of 3 stamps and 1 miniature sheet on 22 October 2018 to commemorate the Installation of the Sultan of Kedah, Salahuddin Sultan. Rating:- ****.

  🇰🇪 The Postal Corporation of Kenya issued a single stamp and an accompanying miniature sheet on 9 October 2018 (World Post Day) to commemorate the Birth Centenary of the former South African President and statesman, Nelson Mandela. The designs are the same as those issued by other member states of the Pan-African Postal Union (see Blogs 1264 ).