King City ‘inspired choice’ for Canada Post cancel

By Mark Pavilons

King City is many things, but few would have thought it would be the shining light leading the Magi to the manger.
But King City received that special honour Nov. 4 when Canada post released its new set of holiday stamps.
The Christmas stamp features gold silhouettes of the three Magi, or wisemen, riding camels while following the star that heralded the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. The star appears in the top right corner of the stamp, and the entire scene is shown against a dark blue background.
Canada Post's first-day cover for the Magi stamp depicts similar gold images of two shepherds and two sheep. An angel sounding a trumpet is incorporated in the pictorial postmark design from King City.
Stamps issued by Canada Post are affixed to a special collectible envelope called an Official First Day Cover (OFDC) and bear a unique mark that indicates when and where they were cancelled. Cancellation sites must be home to a post office and are chosen because they are in some way related to the subject on the stamp – for example, the birthplace of an individual being honoured or the location where an event or anniversary took place. For some issues, the connection between the subject and its cancellation site is more creative, as is often the case with Christmas stamps. Since this latest issue depicts the Three Magi – also known as the Three Wise Men or Three Kings – King City was the “inspired choice” for the OFDC cancel.
In the well-known Biblical story, the Magi brought gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to the baby Jesus on Epiphany, which is celebrated Jan. 6.
A reindeer, a trio of dancers and a partridge in a pear tree are other subjects of Canada Post's secular Shiny and Bright Christmas stamps.
The stylized Shiny and Bright stamps “strike a nostalgic note and conjure up vivid memories of all things shiny and bright during the festive season,” according to Canada Post.
Subplot Design in Vancouver, British Columbia, designed the Magi stamp from an illustration by Michael Little. Lowe-Martin printed the stamp using three-color lithography. The self-adhesive stamp is 30 millimeters by 24 mm and was printed in booklets of 12.
Andrew Lewis Design of London, Ontario, designed and illustrated the Shiny and Bright stamps and souvenir sheet, and the Canadian Bank Note Co. printed them using four-color lithography.
The new Magi and Shiny and Bright stamps and related items are available from Canada Post's online shop. Stamps and FDCs are available by mail order from Canada Post Customer Service, Box 90022, 2701 Riverside Drive, Ottawa, ON K1V 1J8 Canada; or by telephone at 800-565-4362.