U.S. Postal Service Presents Festive Holiday Nutcrackers Event

Holiday 2008 Stamp Nutcrackers Created by Virginia Artisan

To obtain high-resolution images of the stamp, e-mail roy.a.betts@usps.gov

HAMPTON ROADS, VA —Holiday greeting cards will have a home grown feel this year if you adorn your mailings with the contemporary Holiday Nutcrackers stamps from the U.S. Postal Service.  The U.S. Postal Service dedicated the commemorative stamps at the Fall Postage Stamp Mega Event at Madison Square Garden in New York City.  These nutcrackers were custom-made for the Postal Service by Glenn Crider of T.R.C. Designs, Inc., of Mechanicsville, Va.  Crider based the characters on sketches and notes provided by Sally Andersen-Bruce of New Milford, CT, who later photographed the completed nutcrackers for the stamps. 

The four figures produced for the 2008 contemporary Christmas stamps are Santa (Father Christmas), a king, a captain and a drummer.  Crider is one of only a handful of nutcracker makers in the country that creates his nutcrackers in the German style, a process which requires over 400 steps in the crafting of just one figure. 

On Saturday, November 8th, from 11 a.m. until 1 p.m., Crider and his nutcrackers will be honored at a festive event being held at the Landmark Theater located at 6 North Laurel Street in Richmond.  The event, in partnership with Richmond Ballet, will include a special dedication and unveiling ceremony of the Holiday Nutcrackers stamps from 11:30 a.m. until noon. The Postal Service will also have cachets — or commemorative envelopes — and a pictorial postmark designed by Crider, at the event.  Celebrating the 25th anniversary of performing The Nutcracker as a professional company, Richmond Ballet will have characters from The Nutcracker mingling with the audience and available for photo opportunities. Crider has a long-standing relationship with the Richmond Ballet which commissioned him to produce nutcrackers used as stage props during The Nutcracker performances.

Crider began creating nutcrackers in the early 1980’s.  His involvement with the stamp project began with a “mysterious” phone call in early 2006, inquiring about his custom-made artwork.  A few months later he received a call from the Postal Service asking if he would be interested in producing four nutcrackers to be used as the stamp designs.  “Humbly, I am very excited to be involved in all of this,” Crider said.  “As an artist, it has been a life-changing experience.”

In addition to the Holiday Nutcrackers stamps, four additional holiday stamps will be available nationwide as well:  Virgin and Child with the Young John the Baptist stamp was also issued today; Eid, Muslim holiday stamp was issued Sept. 23; Kwanzaa, the celebration of family, community and culture and Hanukkah, The Jewish Festival of Lights stamps will be issued Oct. 24.

This family event is free and open to the public.  For further information on the Nov. 8 event, please visit nutcrackersusa.com.