Holiday Joy Forever Stamps, 2024 Booklet – Holiday Cards and Letters

Evergreen trees and flowering plants have been a part of winter and seasonal festivities for thousands of years. Firs and other foliage that stayed green during those long, dark days provided hope and comfort to pagan celebrants by reminding them that summer and sunlight would eventually return. Over time, Christians made the tradition of using greenery at winter celebrations their own: the first recorded mention of decorated fir trees came from early 17th-century Germany.

Unlike holiday tree ornaments, the iconic poinsettia did not arrive in the United States by way of Europe. Native to Mexico, where it can grow 10 feet tall or more, the poinsettia is the one of the most popular potted plants in the United States today with more than 34 million poinsettias sold each year. It has been associated with Christmas here since the 19th century.