Date of Issue : 1 Nov 2007
Postmark : Smithton (Christmas Hills) TAS 7330
Denomination : 3 x 45c, 50c and AU$1.10
Stamp Size : 26 mm x 37.5 mm (45c and AU$1.10); 37.5 mm x 26 mm (50c)
Paper : Tullis Russell
Printing Process : Lithography
Special Feature : High Build Screen Varnish and Flexo Varnish Effect
The first Australia Christmas stamp was issued in 1957, and has since been an annual stamp issue by Australia Post. Five classic Australian Christmas stamp designs were featured in this stamp issue, to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Christmas stamps in Australia – 1990 : the Bush Nativity, a shift from traditional nativity scene to Australian bushland (45); 1996 : Virgin Mary and Child (45); 1977 : Surfing Santa (45); 1957 : the first Australian Christmas stamp portraying a figure of a small child kneeling from the 1776 painting The Infant Samuel (50c); and 1984 : Madonna and Child from a stained glass window made in 1938 for St Bartholomew's Church of England, Norwood SA (AU$1.10).