# 5025 - 2015 First-Class Forever Stamp - Contemporary Christmas: Linus Decorating the Christmas Tree

U.S. # 5025

2015 49¢ Linus and Christmas Tree

A Charlie Brown Christmas

Contemporary Christmas

Fresh and innovative, A Charlie Brown Christmas featured a number of entertainment “firsts.”  Together with its creator, the animated musical special also influenced the television industry, ushering in a host of changes.

A Charlie Brown Christmas was the first to use children to voice animated characters.  It also established the half-hour animated special as a holiday tradition, inspiring other classic like Frosty the Snowman and How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

The piano-based jazz score was unheard of in programming for children.  Combining an upbeat tempo with the loveable Peanuts characters introduced jazz music to an entire generation.

A Charlie Brown Christmas was also ground- breaking in its biblical references.  When executives tried to talk Schulz out of them, he replied, “If we don’t do it, who will?”  As it turned out, Linus’ recitation from the Gospel of Luke is considered one of the most powerful moments in the film.

Several accomplished cartoonists cite Charles Schulz as their inspiration, including Jim Davis (Garfield) and Bill Watterson (Calvin and Hobbes).  In Watterson’s words, “in countless ways, Schulz blazed the wide trail that most every cartoonist since has tried to follow.”

Each of the Charlie Brown Christmas stamps features a still taken from A Charlie Brown Christmas.  Art director Antonio Alcalá designed the stamps.

Value: 49¢ 1-ounce first-class letter rate

Issued:  October 1, 2015 – 1 day before the 65^th anniversary of the first Peanuts comic strip

First Day City:  Santa Rosa, CA – at the Charles M. Schulz Museum

Type of Stamp: Commemorative


Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America for Sennett Security Products

Method: Offset printing in double-sided booklets 20


Perforation: Serpentine Die Cut 10 ¾  

Self-Adhesive

Quantity Printed: 50,000,000 stamps

In addition to marking the 65^th anniversary of the first Peanuts comic strip, these stamps marked the 50^th anniversary of the first airing of A Charlie Brown Christmas in 1965.  This set was the second issue to honor the Peanuts.  The first came in 2007 (#3507) and pictured Snoopy atop his doghouse dressed as a World War I fighter ace.

These stamps were also issued for National Stamp Collecting Month and continued the long tradition of non-religious Christmas stamps.  The very first U.S. Christmas stamp was issued in 1962.