About This Stamp
Four eye-catching nutcracker designs add colorful, humorous touches to winter holiday correspondence in 2008. With a lantern in one hand and a snowflake-topped staff in the other, a slender, red-suited Santa (or “Father Christmas”) nutcracker will find his way into millions of mailboxes this winter. He’ll be joined by a gold-and-ruby-crowned king, a yellow-jacketed military captain, and a green-garbed drummer with a red drum. Together, they are certain to have people cracking smiles all across the country.
Nutcrackers have been around for centuries. They range from simple utilitarian devices to elaborate collectibles, with a host of creations that fall somewhere in between. During the winter holiday season nutcrackers of all shapes and sizes are familiar sights in toy stores, under Christmas trees, on mantelpieces, on book and magazine covers, and in performance venues. One of the most famous nutcrackers — a character in a ballet suite by Tchaikovsky (The Nutcracker, 1892) — dazzles audiences around the world each December, transforming into a prince for an amazed little girl.
Whether hand-carved, machine-made, or simply imagined, holiday nutcrackers entertain, delight, and inspire children of all ages, including the young at heart.
Art Director
Derry Noyes
For more than 40 years Derry Noyes has designed and provided art direction for close to 800 United States postage stamps and stamp products. She holds a bachelor of arts degree from Hampshire College and a master of fine arts degree from Yale University.
Noyes worked as a graphics designer at Beveridge and Associates, a Washington, D.C., firm, until 1979 when she established her own design firm, Derry Noyes Graphics. Her clients have included museums, corporations, foundations, and architectural and educational institutions. Her work has been honored by American Illustration, the Art Directors Club of Metropolitan Washington, Communication Arts, Critique magazine, Graphis, Creativity International, and the Society of Illustrators.
Before becoming an art director for the U.S. Postal Service, she served as a member of the Citizens' Stamp Advisory Committee from 1981 to 1983.
Noyes is a resident of Washington, D.C.
Stamp Artist
Sally Andersen-Bruce
Sally Andersen-Bruce has been the president and sole proprietor of her photography business for more than 30 years. Based in Connecticut, her assignments have taken her all over the world for clients such as IBM, Polaroid, AT&T, Pepsi, Fortune, and the Wall Street Journal.
Her portfolio includes photographic content for corporations, institutions, and publications, focusing on executives, products, food, architecture, financial reports, and websites.
In addition to her commercial work, she has collaborated with several museums, including the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe, New Mexico; the Shelburne Museum in Shelburne, Vermont; and the Strong Museum in Rochester, New York.
Andersen-Bruce’s photographs have appeared on numerous U.S. postage stamps, among them Classic American Dolls (1997), Neuter and Spay (2002), Nutcrackers (2008), Animal Rescue: Adopt a Shelter Pet (2010), Weather Vanes (2012), Gingerbread Houses (2013), and Diwali, first issued in 2016. Most recently, her photograph appeared on the 2025 Lunar New Year • Year of the Snake stamp.