14 November 2021
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Jersey Post have released eight illustrated stamps depicting the story of the much-loved festive poem ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ along with an accompanying miniature sheet.
Illustrated by local Jersey artist Nanette Regan, the eight stamps feature the ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ narrative, whilst the accompanying miniature sheet shows a child being read the poem before going to sleep on Christmas Eve. The sheet also bears the NSPCC Jersey logo, a children’s charity which Jersey Post is proud to support with this Christmas stamp issue.
First published anonymously, the festive poem ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas’ or also known as ‘The Night Before Christmas’ is widely attributed to American professor and writer Clement Clarke Moore. However, many claim the true author was a New York poet called Henry Livingstone Jr.
The poem has become an enduring part of many families Christmas traditions and is read to children worldwide, including in Jersey, during the festive period. It conjures many quintessential Christmas traditions including stockings hung above a fireplace and gift giving; the evocative descriptions of a fur-clad St. Nicholas as a ‘jolly old elf’ with a ‘round belly’ and beard ‘as white as the snow’ established many of the ideas of Father Christmas we have today.
Artist Nanette Regan said:
‘Turning Clement Clarke Moore’s Christmas poem into a tiny storyboard across eight stamps was a dream project! I hand-painted the images using gouache paint and coloured pencils to keep a cosy, traditional feel to the artwork. Having grown up in Jersey, I wanted to bring a bit of the island into the designs, so the home in the story is made of pink granite and the presentation pack covers are based on houses at Greve de Lecq on the north coast of Jersey.’
Issue date: 22 November 2021, www.jerseystamps.com