Holiday Wreaths 2019 Forever Stamps — Holly and Ivy, Double-Sided Booklet of 20

Issue facts

Issue Date: October 25, 2019
First Day City: Freeport, ME
Printed by: Banknote Corporation of America
Printing Method: Offset
Format: Double-sided booklet of 20

Holly and ivy

The pairing has stood for the season since the early 1800s, fixed in place by the carol that bears both names, and it still goes up in houses worldwide.

Like other winter evergreens, both are endlessly adaptable as decoration — draped along a mantle, wound around a banister, framing a doorway, or worked into a wreath. Holly gets the attention for its red berries, though several ivy species fruit as well, usually in white or pale yellow.

What they have meant

In Christian symbolism holly stands for the infant Jesus and ivy for the Virgin Mary. Old World heraldry read holly as a sign of truth. Elsewhere it was thought to ward off evil, especially with the leaves worn in the hair — a protective quality ivy shares, with love and friendship added to it.

Four wreath designs make up the 2019 set. Given the histories attached to these two plants, a holly-and-ivy wreath is about as well-credentialed as a front door gets.

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