Soliloquy of a Postage Stamp, # 70: The International Women's Year, 1975 : Fouad Kronfol

 This week I continue with featuring the philatelic materials issued for the International Wome'ns Year in 1975. Many countries issued both stamps and covers for the occasion as well as for some of the follow-up Conferences. I am pleased to note that some of the material are among the most attractive ones in my collection.

The first item is this stamp from Ghana which features a large official logo of IWY next to a tractor being driven by a woman. Many countries used the occasion to feature designs showing women doing work that is normally attributed to men, the message being that women are capable of taking on many tasks as well as men.

From the Republic of Guatemala we have this two stamp set issued for IWY. The design has a circle in which are two cute birds and the picture of a young woman whose name is India Cobanera, of Raza Maya Quekchi descendence. The airmail stamps also have the inscription of Club Zonta, the international global organization of professionals empowering women through service and advocacy.

Continuing on the theme of women doing things that are normally done by men, we have these two stamps from the Republic of Guinea. One shows three young women saxophone players and the second shows a woman railroad worker handling the lever to line up tracks for a passing train.

From Australia we have this First Day Cover with  the stamp issued for IWY. The designer is Leonora Howlett for both the stamp and the cachet of the cover. Her design is a stylized version of the IWY official logo in green and purple colors. The post mark shows that the cover was issued from the General Post Office in Melbourne and is dated 12 March 1975.

Here we have another FDC that was issued from Andorra (French part). Both the stamp and the cachet of the FDC show a young Andorran woman in native dress, within a  circle on which is the IWY logo emanating rays. The cachet  has a drawing of a similar nature with the Andorran language inscription of" International Women's Year, 1975". The design is attributed to Edicione Pujol. I have not been able, as yet, to get an Andorran stamp issued by the Spanish side for IWY.

From Denmark we have this FDC issued for the first follow-up Conference to IWY held in Copenhagen in 1980 (five years after the Mexico City Global Conference). The stamp shows three female signs with each having a different message: welfare aid; health care and education.The desiger is R. Nellemann. The cachet is a photo of four smiling young ladies, presumably participants from different countries at the Conference...the photo was taken by Louis Schnakerburg. The two post marks have the IWY official logo and are dated 5 May 1980. The cover was air mailed from Copenhagen to an address in Milliken, Ontario, in Canada.

Here is another FDC from Denmark with the same stamp issued for the Copenhagen Conference in 1980. The stamp and post marks are similar to the ones above, but the cachet shows a young woman looking at the sign reading "AKTION" and the officiall IWY logo.

This is one of 7 stamps issued by the Republic of Honduras for IWY. It is an air mail stamp and the design has four parts; the emblem of the National Social Welfare Organization (JNBS) with its establishment date of 29 March 1958; the portrait of First Lady Mrs. Gloria de Lopez de Allerano; the IWY official logo; and the inscription, "Commemorating the International Women's Year" in Spanish. It is interesting that the stamps were printed by Litomaia in Porto , Portugal.

Here is  a stamp issued by the Islamic Republic of Mauritania for IWY. It is an air mail stamp and shows a design of three lithsome Mauritanian ladies in native dress. The official IWY logo has the numerals "1975" over it.The design is attributed to Sainson Lacaque.

From France we have an attractive stamp issued for IWY which shows a rainbow over the faces of three women of different ethnicities. and the year 1975. The cachet is a dramatic portrayal of a young woman seemingly in prayer with her two hands before her.The face is in the middle of two numerals "7" and "5". The two post marks  emulate the stamp design with three female faces and the date of issue 8 November 1975 from Paris.

Here is an interesting FDC from Greece which was issued to commemorate IWY. The three stamps each have a different design; the first shows  a Neolithic Goddess and the IWY logo; the second shows the Confrontation between Antigone and Creon; and the third is entitiled "Looking to the Future" showing two young women's faces in front of a large number of other women in the background.The cachet has the portraits of three prominent Greek women whose identities and notable actions I have not been able to find.

The Global Conference for IWY was held in Mexico City in 1975 and here is the stamp issued by Mexico to commemorate the notable event. It is an air mail stamp with a design that shows the UN Emblem in the middle of two other circles with the outer one consisting of 16 IWY logos. The design is by A. Brisha.

From the island of Malta we have this stamp issued for IWY. It shows the official logo, the date 1975  and a young woman lying beside a child and tenderly holding its hand.

This is a stamp issued by Nepal for IWY. It shows the official logo in prominence on the right  next to the portrait of the attractive young Queen Aishwarya.

The last item this week is this stamp (one of two) issued by the Republic of Philippines to commemorate IWY. It has the offcial logo over the globe and the portrait of First Lady Imelda R. Marcos. The inscription reads, " International Women's Year" in English and Tagalog.