Each year, people from miles around bring their holiday greeting cards to the post office in Christmas, Florida. Located 25 miles east of Orlando, this small community offers a unique opportunity for those sending holidays greeting cards to relatives and friends around the world: a postmark from Christmas.
The history of this community’s relationship with the Christmas holiday dates back to its founding. The Second Seminole War brought soldiers and settlers to the area, and they built a log fort on the outskirts to protect themselves from the Seminoles. The fort was constructed on December 25, 1837, and was appropriately named Fort Christmas.
When the first post office was established there in 1892, “Fort” was dropped and the community became known simply as Christmas. The Christmas postmark didn’t gain widespread attention until World War II, when servicemen stationed nearby would travel to the Christmas Post Office to have their letters sent home. The popularity of this postmark steadily increased following World War II, and people from all around the world now wish to have their holiday cards postmarked from Christmas, Florida.
Front of a postcard showing the U.S. Post Office building in Christmas, Florida.
Back of the postcard showing the Christmas, Fla. postmark. The postcard is postmarked March 17, 1950.
Juanita S. Tucker served as postmistress at the Christmas Post Office for 42 years, from 1932-1974. She was appointed to the position by President Herbert Hoover and succeeded her mother-in-law, Mrs. L.O. Tucker, who had served since 1914. As postmistress, Juanita Tucker saw the amount of holiday mail increase from year to year. People who couldn’t come in person to the post office could send packages filled with letters to have them stamped with the Christmas postmark. Holiday greeting cards and letters to Santa came from as far away as Scotland, England and the Philippines to be stamped. Many patrons, though, were locals who came back every year to partake in this newly minted Florida tradition.
Juanita Tucker at the post office window in Christmas, Florida, 1947.
To spread the word about her little community, Tucker wrote a booklet titled Perpetual Christmas (1934), in which she outlines the history of Christmas, Florida, including the post office’s history. She writes that the Christmas season at the post office “is a festive and merry occasion as well as a busy one.”
Perpetual Christmas (1934) was written by Juanita S. Tucker, who served as postmistress at the Christmas post office for 42 years. Click to read the entire booklet.
Around the holiday season, Tucker would add personal touches to the letters that came to the post office. While the postmark had to be stamped in black ink, she would personalize cards with an additional Christmas tree stamp in green ink for festive flair.
The post office became so inundated by holiday mail by the 1960s that Tucker had an addition built onto the existing post office and hired seasonal employees to lighten the load. Her husband, Cecil, was often around to assist during the holidays too. A cancellation machine also helped with the influx of mail, but Tucker still preferred to hand stamp the postmark because the stamp came out clearer. By the time she retired in 1974, the post office was mailing roughly 300,000 greeting cards from around the world and she had personally postmarked millions of cards.
Marion Stockton is Santa’s little helper at the post office in Christmas, Florida, 1947.
While the post office has changed a lot since Tucker’s retirement, the tradition of sending festive holiday greeting cards with the Christmas postmark remains. Floridians and residents nearby make the annual trip to the post office around Christmastime and can now decorate their envelopes with stamps and colorful ink provided by the post office.
What are your Christmas traditions? Have you had your holiday greeting cards stamped in Christmas, Florida? Share with us by posting a comment below or on our Facebook page!