International work-related curiosity

[sally_maria]

Since this is the first year I've been closely involved in the long-standing British tradition of special Christmas stamps (this year's designs), I've been curious to know whether this is a unique thing.

Are there special Christmas stamps where you live? Do people send calendars (this seems to be a tradition among a significant number of British people, but not one I'd actually come across before I started working for a shop that sold them)?

Are there other traditions connected with posting for Christmas?

Comments

[muuranker.livejournal.com]

I had never heard of these before!

Me, I like Advent Candles. We haven't had one for a number of years, but as a child, we did, and sang carols as it burned down. So much better than the chocolate-filled advent calendars!

[elandulin.livejournal.com]

The Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar is truly something to behold. Once ordered, it arrives on your desktop as a small, shiny snow globe, in which you can see houses and stores and snow falling. This year, it is an alpine village. Last year, it was London! Once opened, it shows, each day, a different part of village or city, where in something magical happens. It's animated, musically scored, synched to your particular time zone, and changes from daylight to night right along with you. There are trains, ski lifts, special treats, puzzles and a Christmas tree to decorate. Last year there was a tiny bit of a Christmas concert at St Paul's Cathedral, a ride on the London Eye and a trip across the Tower Bridge.

They also have cards for all occasions that you send via email. I was introduced to them about 6-7 years ago and have been sending to special people ever since--now my dad, who is 88, sends them, too! They have been doing the Advent Calendars for 3 or 4 years, I think. Just google the name; they'll come up!

We do advent candles at our house; I started a couple of years after I got married, and have been doing it ever since, for 40 years! I love them!

[muuranker.livejournal.com]

I shall have to look out for the Jacquie Lawson Advent Calendar!

I heard somewhere in the UK is using real windows in the town to make a large advent calendar as a kind of performance or artwork - that sounds like a great idea.

[didiusjulianus.livejournal.com]

First person to tell me where gets...um...a virtual prize?

[sally_maria]

I've always thought Advent candles were a nice idea, but we've never actually had one.

We do still have the Advent calendar that Mum bought for me when I was 2, which comes out every year. The doors have long-ago fallen off, but it was pretty special when we first had it, 3D and with parts that move when you pull a tab backwards and forwards, so we kept it long enough to become one of those family traditions.