Christmas 2001

What would the festive season be without its songs? In New Zealand, good humoured crowds in their thousands gather to sing along to the familiar lyrics, accessible tunes and subject matter that ranges from the mystic to the light and sentimental. The songs lift people out of themselves, providing a glimpse of a happier and more tolerant world. It's not necessary to be religious, nor even particularly musical to enjoy these occasions.

Celebrating a Tradition of Christmas Song

Carols and the communal singing of them has endured over the centuries, in every country where Christianity has spread. They have become a distinctive genre of music, and a living tradition which is still being added to today with new lyrics, new settings and musical idioms reflecting the 21st Century. In all the countries where they are enjoyed, and in all the languages in which they are sung, carols share the same subject matter - the story and the significance of the birth of Jesus. Two millennia on, the impact of this event and the message associated with it, still has the power to move us.

A Festive First Day Cover

Warm colours and traditional style had been used to create the attractive first day cover for the Christmas 2001 issue. This cover incoprated all of the gummed and self-adhesive stamps from the issue.

A GIft of Christmas Song

For any collector, of any age, the Christmas 2001 presentation pack made a particularly thoughtful Christmas gift which incorporated both interesting history on the carols and all six gummed stamps.

Convenient Christmas Mailing

The 40c self-adhesive When Christ was born of Mary free was available in a 100-stamp dispenser carton.

Product Listing for Christmas 2001

Image	Title	Description	Price
	Single Stamp	Single 40c 'When Christ was born of Mary free' gummed stamp. In excelsis gloria' the text on the 40 cent stamp, comes in this case from the carol When Christ was born of Mary free, set by John Gardner in 1963 to a 15th Century text.	$0.40
	Single Stamp	Single 80c 'Away in a manger' gummed stamp. The subject of this carol is such a popular text that it has received at least 41 musical settings since the first, and most familiar, in 1887.	$0.80
	Single Stamp	Single 90c 'Joy to the World' gummed stamp. This joyous carol was written by Isaac Watts. A prolific writer, Watts at one stage prepared a new hymn for his local parish 222 Sundays in a row!	$0.90
	Single Stamp	Single $1.30 'Angels we have heard on high' gummed stamp. An old French carol, probably from Lorraine or Provence.	$1.30
	Single Stamp	Single $1.50 'O holy night' gummed stamp. Adolphe Charles Adam, composer of the classic ballet Giselle also wrote the setting of 0 Holy Night.	$1.50
	Single Stamp	Single $2.00 'While shepherds watched' gummed stamp. The only legally authorised Christmas hymn in the Anglican church for nearly a century from its introduction in 1696.	$2.00
	Single Stamp	Single 40c 'When Christ was born of Mary free' self-adhesive stamp.	$0.40
	First Day Cover	First day cover with six gummed stamps and one self-adhesive stamp affixed. Cancelled on the first day of issue.	$7.80
	Self-adhesive Dispenser	Dispenser box containing 100 x 40c self-adhesive stamps.	$40.00
	Presentation Pack	Presentation pack containing a selection of stamp products from the issue and further information on the theme of the stamps.	$11.00