To commemorate the Golden Jubilees or 50th anniversary of Guiding in Canada a special stamp was issued on April 20th, 1960. The stamp was designed by Helen Roberta Fitzgerald and engraved by John. F. Mash. This stamp was printed in Ottawa by the Canadian Bank Note Company, Limited. Along with the stamp, a number of First Day Cover envelopes were released with many of them having Girl Guide imagery or the 50th-anniversary logo. A First Day Cover or FDC is an envelope with a stamp or stamps postmarked on the first day that the stamp is issued and usually comes on a special envelope making them highly collectible. The 1960 Girl Guide stamp is also famous for being the first stamp and FCD mailed to dignitaries outside of Canada through a publicity program started by Postmaster General William Hamilton that ended in 1973.
I foolishly thought I could complete the whole set but I soon realized that I don’t know how many there are and I can’t find a list online. So I’ve been slowly losing my mind because I keep thinking I have them all and new ones get posted online or I’m about to win an eBay audience for a new one only to have it snipped away in the last 20 seconds. I know of at least three of the 1960’s set that I’m missing and to help other collectors not experience this slow descent into madness I’m going to start recording the ones I have. This will be a blog post that will update when I have more information. I will also include the FDCs I have for the 1985 and 2010 anniversaries. Hopefully, others can add and one day we will finally know how many there are.
March 2021 Update:
So posting about my troubles online led to a very nice Guider, Candance reaching out and helping me with this project. She was a part of the Maple Leaf Chapter of the Scouts on Stamps Society International or the SOSSI. This society collects Scout and Guide stamps from around the world and has monthly meetings and yearly journals. She was able to answer some of my questions and send me past journals that focused on the 1960’s FDC. I’m a long way off of being down my set but I’m going to keep pushing forward.
Special thanks to Candance and the SOSSI
1960 - The Golden Anniversary of the Girl Guides Association, 1910-1960:
1960- Handdrawn FDC
I was gifted these from the Scout Museum in Ottawa and they look to be hand-drawn since I can see the pencil marks under the ink.
1985- the 75th Anniversary of the Girl Guide Movement
2010- 100th Anniversary: The Guide and Brownie on this stamp are Emma Luce and Molly Lewis from the Diefenbaker Elementary School in East York, Toronto. The stamp was issued alongside Guiding Mosaic 2010 held in Guelph Ontario from July 8-17th 2020.
2010 - Maple Leaf Chapter Covers: These covers were produced by the late Bill Bartlet and his son Dave for the Maple Leaf (Canadian) Chapter of the Scout on Stamps Society International or the SSSI.
Other - Not FDC but I still wanted to document it.
Thanks for reading!
EM