Australia's #SantaSlogans Part 1. Introduction 1. In Dec 1932, Australia introduced a new slogan cancel to encourage the early posting of Christmas mail. The POST NOW FOR CHRISTMAS slogan also featured a caricature of Santa Claus. #philately

2. In 2018, I collaborated with the late Rod Perry on a Stampboards thread to highlight & explore these gems of Australian marcophily. In that thread, Rod proposed a categorization for these slogans based on Santa's image. He identified 8 clear "types", which I have also adopted.

3. In addition to a "type" number, Rod also gave each a nickname: Type I - Bewildered Santa Type II - Slick Santa Type III - Inebriated Santa Type IV - Neanderthal Santa Type V - Bespectacled Santa Type VI - Oriental Santa Type VII - Ghostly Santa Type VIII - Chic Santa

4. Based on his extensive collection, and my modest one, Rod was also able to provide an overview of the POs and periods (earliest & last known dates) in which they were used. Type I, the most common, was used across Australia, as pictured here. Some were used at only one PO.

5. This journey improves upon and replaces my 2019 Tweets on these slogans, which I've deleted from Twitter. Hopefully this series will do what the previous Tweets did not - provide a better contextual understanding and appreciation for these slogans. A more complete picture!