Alongside the issue of CILP Emergency Mail Service stamp on 23 April 2020, a new hand applied cachet came into use on all mail using CILP services. It will be used until reasonable and trusted sources declare the emergency over and we have all had a vaccine!
The design is a stylised Covid-19 ‘Virus’ which has become
so familiar in many forms to us on television, news programmes, health notices
and social media.
The production of the handstamp was a rough and ready
process to get it prepared in time for simultaneous release with our Emergency
Mail Service stamp. It was hand carved from a champagne cork and, I believe,
conveys the right impression (pun intended) in these dire circumstances.
Although I have produced clean sharp cachets using digital
means in the past, I prefer the manual application and involvement of producing
handstamps that have a nostalgic ‘authentic’ look to them. It’s all part of the
fun of running a local post!
