Merry Christmas ! But is the War Over ?

On December 3^rd 1992 a junior employee at Vodafone, Neil Papworth, sent the first SMS (short message service) or “text” to the phone of technical director Richard Jarvis. The innocent message ? Yes, it was “Merry Christmas”.

Was this another landmark in the slow death of postal communications ? The impact was not immediate, text messaging only really taking off when it became possible to send messages from one network to another and cheaper “mobiles” became universal, but today over 1.5 billion texts are sent every week in Britain alone.

Most of these messages are of course utter gibberish and would never have justified the sending of a postcard or letter. However, if you have a mobile, please do not fall into the evil temptation to make your festive greetings electronic. Make them last by putting them where they belong.

In a card or letter placed in an envelope. Posted in a letterbox. With a stamp on it.

***

Christmas is a time for positive thoughts so why do I still look at the 1966 stamp alongside and find no love in my heart ?

As most philatelists know this was the result of a Blue Peter competition won by a certain Tasveer Shemza. Now, I know that she was only six but I have to say it is truly dreadful, the stuff of nightmares. If a wise man had loomed into the stable looking like that Mary would have definitely hidden the baby. In fact I would suggest that it is a strong contender for the scariest stamp ever.

Is this just sour grapes ? Too right it is. My own entry in the competition which showed the baby Jesus lovingly cradled by Jimmy Greaves was far superior ! A rather mixed message, perhaps, but I feel that it said something important about the Sixties.

It is not too late. I still have the coloured pencils somewhere and would be happy to give it another go for next Christmas. Perhaps Wayne Rooney holding the Christ child this time ....

***

Could we do better with our Christmas stamp designs generally ? We surely can. The brave simplicity of design that a stamp requires is there to be rediscovered - at the National Gallery perhaps, where Leonardo's newly attributed "Salvator Mundi" is making such an impact. Waldemar Januszczak spotted precisely this potential in his Sunday Times review of the exhibition, noting "If you wrote "1st" in the corner you'd have a postage stamp for Christmas."

From all at Grosvenor, we wish you a happy and peaceful festive season.

JG