# 2166 - 1985 22c Contemporary Christmas: Poinsettia Plants

U.S. #2166
1985 22¢ Poinsettia Plants
Contemporary Christmas

• Second US stamp to picture poinsettias
• 22^nd Contemporary Christmas issue

Stamp Category:  Commemorative
Series:  Contemporary Christmas
Value:  22¢, first-class rate
First Day of Issue:  October 30, 1985
First Day City:  Nazareth, Michigan
Quantity Issued:  757,600,000
Printed by:  Bureau of Engraving and Printing
Printing Method:  Photogravure
Format:  Panes of 50 in sheets of 200
Perforations:  11

Why the stamp was issued:  For use on holiday mail.

About the stamp design:  This was the first full stamp design for James Dean.  He’d previously painted the background for the Frederic Bartholdi stamp.  This was the second US stamp to picture poinsettias.  The first was part of the first US se-tenant in 1964.

First Day City:  The First Day ceremony for this stamp was held at the Performing Arts Center of Nazareth College in Nazareth, Michigan.

About the Christmas Series:  By the early 1960s, the US Post Office was receiving 1,000 letters a year (for several years) asking for a Christmas-themed stamp to frank their holiday mail.  The idea was approved and the US issued its first Christmas stamp on November 1, 1962.

The stamp was wildly popular, featuring popular holiday decorations of a wreath and candles.  The Post Office Department had expected there would be a great demand for the issue, so they printed 350 million stamps – the largest print run for a special stamp up to that time.  Those 350 million stamps sold out quickly, leading the Bureau of Engraving and Printing to produce more stamps – reaching over 860 million by the end of the year.

While the Christmas stamp was very popular, it wasn’t without its detractors.  Some didn’t agree with the idea of the post office issuing a stamp honoring a religious holiday.  Others wanted Christmas stamps that were more religious.  The Post Office would continue to issue Christmas stamps in the coming years that featured the National Christmas Tree, seasonal plants, and an angel in 1965. The angel was considered less controversial because angels are included in many religions, not just Christianity.

In 1966, the Post Office came up with a plan to produce Christmas stamps utilizing classic paintings of the Madonna and Child.  These stamps wouldn’t violate the separation of church and state because they were a celebration of culture.  On November 1, 1966, they issued the first US Madonna and Child stamp in Christmas, Michigan.  The stamp featured the 15^th century painting, Madonna and Child with Angels, by Flemish painter Hans Memling.

That stamp was very popular and over 1.1 billion were printed.  The same design was used again the following year, however, the 1967 stamp was larger and showed more of the painting.  The stamp’s continued popularity led the Post Office to issue another traditional Christmas stamp in 1968, this time picturing the Angel Gabriel.   For the 1969 issue, they reverted back to the non-religious theme, with a stamp picturing a painting called Winter Sunday in Norway, Maine.

The Post Office made a big change in 1970.  To keep people in both camps happy, they issued one traditional Christmas stamp, picturing a classic painting of the Nativity, plus a block of four picturing Christmas toys.  That decision proved popular and they have continued to issue stamps with both traditional and contemporary Christmas themes ever since.

History the stamp represents:  Native to Mexico, the Aztecs called poinsettias Cuetlaxochitl, which means “flower that withers, mortal flower that perishes like all that is pure.”  According to Aztec tradition, these plants were a gift from the gods and their blood red coloring was to be a reminder of the sacrifices the gods made to create the universe.

Poinsettias were first associated with Christmas in the 16th century.  Legend tells of a young girl too poor to buy a gift for Jesus’s birthday.  An angel saw her crying and told her to collect weeds as a gift, and miraculously, her tears transformed those weeds into lush red blossoms.  The people of Mexico called these plants Flor de Noche Buena, meaning Christmas Eve Flower.

In another legend, Franciscan friars decorated a nativity scene for Christmas.  During their mass, the Star of Bethlehem passed overhead and the plants changed from green to red.  From then on, the red plants became a symbol of the blood of Christ and were closely associated with Christmas.

Up until the 1800s, poinsettias weren’t found in the US.  The man responsible for bringing these plants to America was Joel Roberts Poinsett (1799-1851).  Although he had graduated from medical school, Poinsett’s true love was botany and traveling to exotic locations.  Poinsett toured Europe extensively, as well as the most remote regions of Russia. Upon his return to the US, Poinsett was appointed to serve as the nation’s first ambassador to Mexico.

While in Mexico in 1828, Poinsett discovered a tree-like plant with brilliant red leaves.  He sent some plants to his home in South Carolina, where they were propagated and given to friends and local botanical gardens.  Before long, the plant became widely known by a new name – “poinsettia.”

While Poinsett had introduced the plant to America, it was another family who would help make poinsettias a Christmas season staple – the Ecke family.  After emigrating from Germany in 1900, Albert Ecke opened a dairy and orchard before becoming interested in poinsettias.  He started selling them on a street stand and instilled an interest in the plant in his son Paul.

When he grew older, Paul developed a grafting technique that produced a fuller plant (poinsettias in the wild look more like weeds). In turn, his son, Paul Jr., also took an interest in the plant.  Paul Jr. changed how the plants were sent – instead of sending mature plants by train, he sent cuttings by plane.  He also gave free plants to TV stations to decorate their sets between Thanksgiving and Christmas, helping to promote them in the eyes of the public.  Paul Jr. even appeared as a guest on The Tonight Show and other programs to talk about poinsettias.

For decades, the Ecke family dominated the poinsettia market because their grafting technique produced the most attractive plants. Then in the late 1980s, a botanist discovered their technique and published it, so many other companies could grow comparable plants.  But the Ecke family remained one of the largest sellers of poinsettias into the 2000s.  Over the years, botanists have also found ways to grow poinsettias in over 100 colors. The red blooms of the plants are actually leaves and the flowers are the small knobs of yellow, red and green in the center.

In 2002, the US House of Representatives passed a bill establishing December 12 as National Poinsettia Day.  The day was selected because it’s the date of Joel Roberts Poinsett’s death.  December 12 is also the Day of the Virgin of Guadalupe in Mexico.