John Kucko Digital
7 December 2019
Angelica’s Angel Stamp (Part II): It’s a beautiful story of Americana and a quaint Allegany county community coming together. Heard from many of you after my post yesterday here about the traditional Angel Station stamp at the Angelica Post Office. Each December, the postal workers there hand stamp the holiday mail with the “Angel Station” stamp, a tradition dating back to 1997. Each year, local artist Pat Kaake draws a folk angel—a labor of love that began 23 years ago when this tiny post office faced the possibility of closure. Kaake came up with this angelic plan to ensure heavy volume of mail each December—and it has worked wonderfully. Once the artwork is approved by the U.S. Postal Service, the hand stamp is readied for use in December. Beginning yesterday and going through Christmas Eve, folks can have their cards/mail stamped with this year’s version. People travel from all over WNY and the Southern Tier to do this, as well as Pennsylvania, Ohio—all over the place. This is a wonderful tradition and a throwback to the good old days, as nostalgic as it gets. After December 24th, the rubber stamp is sent to the district office in Buffalo and destroyed. They will hand stamp about 9,000 pieces of mail, including mail from Europe—many stamp collectors insist on adding this to their collections each year . Pictured here are some versions of the Angel Station stamp from years past. I absolutely love this tradition, one that helps make this village so special. I hope they never shut down that fabulous little post office.