If you’re from Cuba, you might remember that collecting stamps was really big there–especially in the 1970s. My husband collected a lot of stamps as a child and, of course, his mother never threw them out. A few years ago he brought them home to Canada and we actually have hundreds of groovy stamps from the 70s, like this one of Che above.
In my novel, The Last Honest Man in Havana, my character Rafael likes to doodle Che. Guess where I got that idea?
Since kids didn’t have many toys at that time – and stamps were cheap – I guess Fidel thought it would keep them busy.
The stamps cover so much history in Cuba and having a good look at them is actually quite educational! I like the baseball stamps:
And then others are a little more eye-opening – celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Lenin’s death and the 30th Anniversary of winning the war against Fascism:
Some of them are cute and colourful:
I think Camilo’s stamp would make a cool poster.
I know nothing about stamps and have no idea if any of these are worth anything. Many are loose, in an envelope, and the others are glued into the old books. I’ve only scanned in some of the loose ones. A friend of mine has suggested I have the collection appraised. I had actually been cutting them up and using them in collages – oh dear!
But, regardless of their market value, I consider these tiny works of art a valuable piece of my husband’s history. They also provided me with some great insight into the mindset of the era.
If you would like to share any information about these stamps with me, please feel free!
The Last Honest Man in Havana 