Season’s Greetings from Bethlehem

Story by Lynn Hobbs, photos by Leigh Lofgren

Anyone who likes to send “Merry Christmas” greetings can do so this year from Bethlehem, no passport or entry stamp required. 

The nearby “O Little Town of Bethlehem,” Georgia is quite unlike its current politically complex namesake city just south of Jerusalem in Palestine where the Christ babe was born. Located in central north Georgia’s Barrow County, Bethlehem, is like many small cities in Georgia with rural and suburban areas scattered with farmland, homes, parks, schools, stores, and an occasional traffic light. 

Its population is about 715, according to data.census.gov, but the town's hustle and bustle

picks up considerably the day after Thanksgiving. Hundreds of people start bringing their holiday mail to its post office to be stamped with Bethlehem's postmark and continue to do so for about three weeks.

Postmaster Calvin Mansfield, a long-time Bethlehem resident who’s worked with USPS for more than 33 years, started work in the postal service’s processing facility in Duluth, then moved to the North Metro and Gainesville post offices before moving to Bethlehem’s post office in 2017.

“I got to slow it down a bit,” he said with a laugh. “Except for Christmas.  At Christmas we get just as much volume as the big cities, so sometimes it’s a madhouse around here.”

When Lakelife visited in early December last year to talk with Mansfield, the bell on the entrance door of the post office rang constantly as a seemingly endless line of people walked in with their cards and letters, some with boxfuls.

Carol Mucci said she’s been bringing her business’ cards every year for the past 25 years. In the early years, she drove from Buford, but last year she came from nearby Winder. Mucci said she works for a subsidiary of Quest Diagnostics, and mails cards to about 2,000 customers each year.

“Just trying to give people a little bit of Christmas from Bethlehem,” she said with a smile.

Carol paused her ink stamping to describe her response when her new boss asked if they

Pam Hancock and little Carlee stamp their cards; Pam said she’s been stamping and sending her cards for about 30 years from Bethlehem.

send out Christmas cards. “I said ‘yes, we mail them from Bethlehem,’” she laughed. “And she was like, ‘what?’ and I told her ‘It’s a thing.’”

In addition to each piece of holiday mail receiving Bethlehem’s cancellation mark, the post office also has customized stamps that customers use to stamp “Seasons Greetings from Bethlehem” on the envelopes or packages.

“We have both red and black ink pads because most envelopes are either red or green and red doesn’t show up well on those,” Calvin observed. “I wish I could take credit for it, but the ball was rolling long before I got here, and I just keep it going.”

Postmaster Calvin Mansfield, center, and postal clerks Marsha Daniel, left, and Jameka Eady are always smiling and ready to help meet your holiday mailing needs.

The holiday postmark began in 1967 when Bethlehem’s Post Office was selected by the U.S. Postal Service to kick off the sale of that year’s Christmas stamp, reveals an archived article in The Atlanta Constitution.[1] Calvin said they still use that original stamp machine today, although it sometimes takes a bit of repairs to keep it going.

Nestled a few miles south of Winder, the town received its name from the Bethlehem Methodist Church, which was established in 1796. The city’s website explains that well-known gospel songwriter and publisher Judson L. Moore was a member of the church and suggested the city’s name. In the late 1800s, Gainesville, Jefferson and Southern Railroad’s train stop there was also called Bethlehem[2], and the area around it took on the same name. Bethlehem was incorporated as a town in 1902[3].

It’s unclear when the post office was first established in town, but fast forward 120 or so years to visit the current post office during the holiday season and you’ll quickly discover it’s a big deal in the small town. The small room abounds with the seasonal spirit’s kindness as strangers smile and greet each other, hold the door open, and tuck in their elbows to share space. 

“I’ve been doing this about 30 years,” said Pam Hancock, a Bethlehem resident who brought her cards to stamp. “We were here when the smaller post office was here, but this one has a lot more room. Everybody has always come here to get their cards done.”

David Minton drives at least 30 minutes to the Bethlehem, Georgia post office each year to continue a family tradition of mailing holiday cards.

David Minton walked in with a rather large stack of cards in his hands. He used to live in Bethlehem, but now he lives in Hoschton, and also owns a house on Lake Oconee.

“So, now I come all the way here to keep the tradition going,” David said. “I’ve been doing it 20 years.”

In the Minton household, everyone in the family signs each card and has their own individual stamp they put on the card. The envelopes are beautifully sealed with a wax stamp. That statement caught the ear of other customers who wanted to see the wax stamp and ask where David got it and how they could do it themselves.

People who live too far away to take their cards, package them up and mail them to the Bethlehem Post Office “in care of the postmaster” to receive the “Seasons Greetings from Bethlehem” cancellation mark. Calvin said the cards are already addressed and have a postage stamp on them, so all the postal clerks have to do is put them through the cancellation machine and send them on their way.

This wax stamp seals the envelopes of the Minton family’s cards.

“I get them from all over the state and sometimes I get them from different states,” Calvin said. “I know that besides us, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania and Bethlehem, Kentucky also does it. Those are the three that I know because I’ve talked to those postmasters and they pretty much go through the same thing we do, and do it the same way we do every year.”

But going in person seems to add to the holiday spirit. The city’s slogan is “Bethlehem: Little Town Under the Big Star”, which plays off the Biblical story of the three magi who followed the star to bring gifts to the Christ child. The post office is located on Christmas Avenue, and to drive there, you’ll travel on or see other streets named Star, Shepherd, Angel, Herald, Manger, Mary, Joseph, King, Wisemen, David, Judea, and Holly within a 5-mile radius. When you pull into the post office parking lot, there’s a beautiful holly tree growing beside the door, its bright red berries giving a visual Christmas-y greeting.

A 60-foot bright star made of light bulbs hangs high over town all season each year. And a live nativity scene is held on December 22-23 by the First United Methodist Church of Bethlehem. The event includes carols sung by the church choir and a reading of the story of Jesus’ birth followed by refreshments served at city hall.

Bethlehem's Post Office is located at 820 Christmas Ave., Bethlehem, GA

If you’d like to take your own Christmas cards to Bethlehem’s post office, Mansfield said post office staff are happy to explain how to stamp your envelopes with the handstamps and show examples of what they do.

“It’s pretty easy, nothing to it,” he assured. “And the customers actually tell each other, too, because it kind of puts everybody in a Christmasy mood.”

It all starts the day after Thanksgiving. But for those who wait until the last-minute, the locals have a solution.

Beth Bacall, of Atlanta, thinks the Bethlehem stamp adds ‘a special touch’ to holiday cards.

“I hadn’t finished filling out my cards and addressing them and I’m only in town for an hour because I have another appointment,” Beth Bacall explained hurriedly as she stamped a stack of unaddressed envelopes with the Bethlehem handstamp. At the time, Beth was a radio-media personality for what was then station 104.7 The Fish. She had just left a program broadcast from the Bethlehem Chick-Fil-A on nearby Shepherd Lane.

“They told me at Chick Fil A that I could just take my envelopes in and stamp them and then address them later, so I’m going to send them a card for giving me that little tip,” she laughed. “I think this is such a nice touch to have them stamped from Bethlehem, don’t you? It’s just a good touch.”

The United States Post Office in Bethlehem is located at 820 Christmas Avenue, Bethlehem, GA. It is open 9 a.m. until noon, and 1:00 to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. Call 800-275-8777 for more information.

[1] Kent, Peter J. (December 11, 1997). https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-atlanta-constitution-bethlehem-stamp/105635634/

[2] Fergusson, Jim (February 18, 2022). "Georgia Railroads – SL 234 Passenger Stations and Stops", branchline.uk/jfpdf/georgiarrs.pdf.

[3] Georgia, General Assembly (1903). Acts and Resolutions of the General Assembly of the State of Georgia (1902 ed.). Atlanta, Georgia: The Franklin Printing and Publishing Company. p. 344.

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This story appeared in Lakelife magazine, Volume 19, Issue 6 and is the property of Smith Communications, Inc. No portions of the story or photos may be copied or used without written consent from the publisher.