Holiday stamp tradition continues in “Christmas City” of Noël, Missouri

NOËL, Mo. — It’s the Christmas season and along with lights and gifts comes a name change for a southwest Missouri town.

“We are in beautiful Noël, Missouri — the “Christmas City,” said USPS Strategic Communications Specialist, Mark Inglett.

At the heart of “Christmas City” you’ll find the post office, where the holiday greeting and festive postmark, “Noël” is stamped on envelopes of cards and letters.

“We’ve been doing this since 1932. So, as I said before, Noël means Merry Christmas. We’re excited about being here in the center of Missouri, which is the center of the country. A lot of folks will come down, and they’ll bring boxes of cards that are already addressed and stamped, and they’ll ask us to put that special cancellation on them. They go all over the world, and we’re really excited to help them out,” said Inglett.

In the weeks leading up to Christmas, the Noël Post Office receives tens-of-thousands of cards from around the world.

“It’s usually around 65,000 is what we stamp. I’m going to try to reach 100,000. That is my goal this year,” said Noël Postmaster, Patricia Coggin.

Coggin, along with her team of volunteer elves, stamp each envelope with a red wreath, a green Christmas tree, and a red and blue sign bearing the city’s name.

A century later, the tradition is going strong.

“Seeing the smile on these folks faces, they know they can trust us with their mail and things like that. We take that for granted sometimes, but you know what? We’re going to keep going strong every year, but this tradition, oh, my gosh — having folks come down here bringing their kids and grandchildren and seeing the smile on their faces and talking about Santa Claus. You can’t beat it,” said Inglett.

To get that holiday mail stamped in the “Christmas City” of Noël, you can send cards and letters to the post office located at 318 Main Street, Noel, Missouri, 64854.