Mrs Brown’s Boys and Toy Show among Christmas stamp contenders

An Post launches competition to decide Christmas stamp themes

Mrs Brown's Boys, the Late Late Toy Show and chocolate selection boxes are among contenders for this year's Christmas stamps, An Post has said.

The company has launched a poll asking people to vote on what Christmas traditions they would most like to see on the 2018 Christmas stamps.

"People have their own idea about what Christmas is to them. Every household has their own traditions," An Post stamp designer, Aileen Mooney, told The Irish Times.

An Post will design the seasonal stamps based on the most popular themes the public think make Christmas special.

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Ms Mooney said the stamps will “tell a story about Irish Christmas”, and it doesn’t get more Irish than the themes they have created.

They include watching the Late Late Toy Show in PJs, eating selection boxes in front of the fire, attending midnight Mass on Christmas Eve and picking up loved ones from the airport arrivals hall.

Other contenders are proudly watching your children’s school Nativity play, visiting the local live crib, attending switching on of the local Christmas lights, preparing the family recipe for Christmas cake and pudding, getting ready for the arrival of Santa on Christmas Eve and watching the Mrs Brown’s Boys Christmas special.

The winning stamps will be revealed to the public in November when they go on sale in post offices and online.

‘Secular and religious’

Last year, the three An Post stamps were a group of carol singers, a reindeer with Christmas lights on its antlers and the three wise men following the Star of Bethlehem.

Ms Mooney said this year they wanted to create modern and traditional stamps that are “both secular and religious”. They also “wanted to do something to involve the public” and feature “great Irish artists and designers”.

While Christmas is seven months away, An Post said the stamp making process takes approximately five months which is why they are launching the poll now in order to make sure the stamps are ready for Christmas.

They expect to design and print “a couple of million” stamps, according to Ms Mooney.

An post release Christmas stamps every year and are “really looking forward” to their 2018 editions.

"This is a wonderful chance for all our customers to put their stamp on Christmas and to help An Post create stamps that will travel all across Ireland and around the world this Christmas – and to the North Pole," said Anna McHugh, Head of Corporate Communications at An Post.

Anyone who votes in the poll will be entered into a draw to win a €50 One4all gift card.

To vote, by Friday June 1st, visit anpost.ie/christmascomp or search An Post on Facebook and @postvox on Twitter.