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 trusted sources declare the emergency over and we all have had a vaccine shot!
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. It measures
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!
