HUMOUR IN PHILATELY

This year (2018) we are celebrating 100 years since some British women received the franchise; for it was in 1918 that – 40% – were granted the vote in National Elections. I therefore thought it fitting to see the effect on Gender and Philately. Using archival source, I looked to see how women philatelists were treated by male writers since the 1840s. The items sighted here (some tongue in cheek) are mostly from various bindings (volumes) from 1861 to 1913 which are part of The British Library, Crawford Library. References used for this ‘Fun Piece’ include the following: Crawford 804.(7.), Crawford 840 (11.), Crawford 845.(12.) and Crawford 2106 (years 1901 and 1907). Others noted are from British published stamp magazines of the 1980s, Gibbons Stamp Monthly of February 2007, and a 1990s specialist journal dated Nov? 20??.

In 1842, the celebrated satirical magazine Punch had already considered how to approach gender and philately: “A new mania has bitten the industriously–idle ladies of England ... they have been indefatigable in their endeavours to collect old penny stamps; in fact, they betray more anxiety to treasure up Queen’s heads, than Harry the Eighth did to get rid of them.” So you see; women did collect stamps before the men came along and made it their hobby and sent the Ladies off to make the cucumber sandwiches and type the minutes. Can’t have gents’ stamp tweezer fingers cutting cucumber or bashing the vintage Remington typewriter’ keys, besides it would take a night school term or more to learn all of this and there were more important things to do.

Even when they decided to collect picture postcards the women were mocked. The editor of The Picture Postcard, and Collectors’ Chronicle wrote in 1901 “Women are far keener collectors than men. This was attributed by the secretary of the exhibition to the fact that the fair sex get their cards for nothing from absent admirers ... men collectors prefer views of interesting places all over the world and purchase no others ...”. There had been an advertisement in this magazine promoting “The Ladies’ International Picture Post-card Exchange Society” based in Sheffield; not surprisingly this advertisement was never repeated. However, this was picture postcards and not stamps, so back to stamps.

Some “Ladies” were occasionally given spectacular treats. This was of course in the USA, Ohio to be precise, during July 1908. In those days the “Ladies” were certainly well looked after, for all the featured entertainments at a Philatelic Convention were open to all “visiting Ladies”. Well, “except the Smoker” (“Smoking Room” to the Brits). Such male consideration, no doubt arrived at to ensure the Ladies would not die from a combination of inhaling cigar smoke and utter boredom. And it didn’t stop there. On the Wednesday at 7.30pm a trip around the city was arranged in the special car Electra of the Columbus Railway & Light Co. It started right outside the hotel – the Great Southern Hotel no less – what fun it must have been, although they probably felt bad about the whole business, having neglected their husbands coughing away in the “Smoker”. I bet they were back in time to undo their dear husbands’ double ended ties and press their trousers; or pants if you’re American or have the wrong spell check on your computer.

In these Islands of ours (British Isles), women were sometimes excessively well looked after! For according to the official report of the Third Philatelic Congress of Great Britain held in Birmingham during 1911, which I’m sure you’ve read, the “Ladies” were also invited. Just as well as their VIP was none other than the Countess of Warwick. I expect some monocles popped out when the news spread that the committee would have to conduct themselves in a gentlemanly manner with a Countess seated at the top table. There’s even an official picture postcard of her. But, perhaps in those days a Countess was not considered to be just one of the Ladies.

Those gallant Gents organizing philatelic events at long late night committee meetings, in the pub, often have the ladies in mind. It’s not all deciding how many display frames to order and should it be chicken or beef, red or white, Rum Baba or Black-forest Gateau. During the 1980s a British Philatelic organisation arranged transport to take the ladies to a hair dresser in the afternoon to have their hair attended to and all were back in time for the gala dinner. No doubt they looked wonderful with their new rinses, twirling around the ball room with all that glitter in their hair. Don’t you wish you had been there?

It seems odd that, in a country where we are told boys underachieve at school and women are on par with their male colleges at work, we still find Stamp Clubs arranging – wait for it – “Ladies night” – where for two hours a year the women give talks about their hobby and the men are entertained. What consideration, what fun, the duty of all philatelic societies to enjoy an evening letting the “fairer sex” (not my words) talk about their stamps, while the men take a back-seat; giggling and wondering if there’ll be jelly and cream with the cucumber sandwiches. On the face of it not much has changed since the ridiculous “Punch” nonsense. But as we know, it’s not old-fashioned male chauvinism, female family ties or anything like that. So why do they do it?

I’d like to think that some women:

• Burnt the postcard magazine with the derogatory remarks and built up the best collection on the planet.
• Got off the special car Electra and had a night on the town.
• Let their hair down at the gala dinner.
• Declined the “Ladies night” and published an awarding winning philatelic book instead.

So there it is.

But why did so many stamp clubs have unwritten rules so that women have “acquisitions” and not “collections”, why do individuals publish their open letters addressing the philatelic world with the word “Gentlemen”, why do we read in journals asinine boys-club remark “you can bring your girlfriend along too”. Perhaps, in this second decade of the twenty-first century these are now thing of the past? Well, I hope so.

However, we do know they, the “Ladies”, those very same “Punch” girls in the 1840s, did one marvellous thing; they got their own back from day one. I guess they knew the men would rally, so they did something which has upset the grumbling male stamp collector ever since. They took those one-penny blacks and all those other adhesive stamps of dear Queen Victoria and glued them to the backs of mirrors, around picture frames, all over fire screens and the covers of scrap-books. Good for them! And if I’d been there, perhaps I would have helped them apply the very thick brown varnish!