FOUNDING OF THE
CHRISTMAS PHILATELIC CLUB

The Christmas Philatelic Club was founded in Harmony, Minnesota in 1969 by the late Kenneth W. Mackenzie of Bloomington, Minnesota.

In 1969 Ken Mackenzie went to work at Harmony Enterprizes as a Production Engineer. During his few years at Harmony Enterprizes he stayed at the Harmony Motel during the week and commuted home to his family on the weekends. This gave him a lot of quiet time during the week to pursue his favorite hobby, collecting stamps. It was during this time he formed the club for collectors of Christmas stamps. Ken felt that Christmas should be shared and spread out over the 12 months of the year. He formed the club to create an atmosphere of caring and love, feelings that people express more at Christmas, than any other time of the year. His dream took hold as the club grew through the years. There were over 100 members at the end of its first year.

Ken remained very active in the Club until his death in 1991. He served as the Yule Log's first editor and president, was a director for many years and wrote a column for the Yule Log entitled "Der Tannenbaum." It was in his column in the Jan/Feb 1990 issue that Mackenzie revealed another dream he had for the Club. He thought the Club should celebrate its 25th Anniversary in Harmony, Minnesota in 1994. He suggested that a letter writing campaign for the United States Postal Service to issue its 1994 Christmas stamps in Harmony, get underway immediately.

After Ken's death on June 17, 1991, the Club continued its plans for a 25th anniversary celebration, in Harmony, in memory of Ken Mackenzie. The Club was successful in its campaign to have the United States Postal Service issue the 1994 Contemporary Christmas Stamps in Harmony, in conjunction with its anniversary celebration.

Read about CPC's 25th Anniversary

During 1994, the Yule Logs contained a look back at CPC's first 25 years