6036 – 2025 First-Class Forever Stamp – Cardinals on Mistletoe

US #6036
2025 Cardinals on Mistletoe

• For use on 2025 holiday mail
• Part of set of four Holiday Cheer stamps

Stamp Category: Special
Set:  Holiday Cheer
Value:  78¢, First Class mail Rate (Forever)
First Day of Issue:  September 13, 2025
First Day City:  Washington, DC
Quantity Issued:  125,000,000
Printed by:  Ashton Potter (USA) Ltd. (APU)
Printing Method:  Offset
Format:  Booklet of 20

Why the stamp was issued:  The Holiday Cheer stamps were issued for use on mail sent during the 2025 holiday season.

About the stamp design:  Each of the four designs picture a collage created by Denise Fiedler.  She painted on paper from a vintage gardening book, then cut the paper into shapes.  These, she pasted on an archival cotton board to create the stamps images.  They include a holly wreath, amaryllis flowers, an evergreen branch with fruit, and cardinals on a mistletoe branch.

First Day City:  The First Day of Issue ceremony took place at the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington, DC

About the Contemporary Christmas series:  The US issued its first Christmas stamp (picturing a wreath and candles) on November 1, 1962, and it was wildly popular.  The Post Office printed 350 million stamps, the largest print run for a special stamp up to that time, but still the stamps quickly sold out.  The Bureau of Engraving and Printing produced more to satisfy demand and the total number issued was over 860 million by the end of the year.
In 1966, the Post Office started issuing traditional themed Christmas stamps picturing Madonna and Child and other religious icons.  In 1969, they switched back to non-religious Christmas designs with a stamp picturing the painting Winter Sunday in Norway, Maine. 
Finally, in 1970, the Post Office decided to permanently split Christmas stamps into two categories to satisfy everyone: Traditional and Contemporary.  They issued a block of four stamps picturing Christmas toys along with a stamp picturing a classic painting of the Nativity.  The decision to do both proved popular, and the Post Office has continued to issue stamps in both categories ever since.

History the stamp represents: 
The northern cardinal is one of the most recognizable songbirds in North America.  The male’s bright red plumage and dramatic crest make it easy to spot in any environment.  The bird was named after the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church, who have historically worn vivid scarlet robes and caps.
There are 19 subspecies of cardinal, but the most well-known is the northern cardinal.  Interestingly, the defining red color of male birds is dependent on their consumption of pigments in their food.  Some birds that eat only yellow pigments are a much paler red color, while those that eat both red and yellow have the reddest feathers.  However, a few rare birds have been found to lack the enzyme needed to create red feather pigment.  These birds have yellow feathers and beaks.
During the winter months in the northern United States, many birds fly south for the season.  However, northern cardinals stick around.  They survive the cold weather by fluffing their feathers and trapping heat against their bodies.  To help them out during these tough months, many bird enthusiasts hang black oil sunflower seed feeders – a favorite food of cardinals.  After all, what could be better than having bright red birds flying past your window during the grayest months of the year
The cardinals on the stamp are perched on a mistletoe branch.  Mistletoe has been an important cultural symbol for thousands of years.  It later became tied to Christmas in Christian cultures.  The tradition was born that lovers were expected to kiss under the mistletoe.  In the United Kingdom, the town of Tenbury Wells holds an annual mistletoe festival and crowns a “Mistletoe Queen.”