14 September 2017
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Ladybird Books Achivements
Royal Mail go for the nostalgia angle with a set of colourful stamps recalling the Ladybird books many of us read as youngsters.
Royal Mail go for the nostalgia angle with a set of colourful stamps recalling the Ladybird books many of us read as youngsters.
Royal Mail’s latest set of eight stamps celebrates the humble 56-page hardback books that millions of youngsters grew up with during the 20th century. As Royal Mail rightly point out, Ladybird Books ‘have had a vast influence on successive generations of British children’ and no doubt readers will recall a favourite title from their youth.
Founded during the First World War, Ladybird Books, an imprint of publishers Wills and Hepworth, eventually hit upon a winning formula in the 1940s. With paper rationing in force, the business designed a book format where an entire 56-page book could be produced from a single sheet. The size for this was 7 inches by 4 5/8 inches and the classic format was born with the first title, Bunnikin’s Picnic Party: a story in verse for children with illustrations in colour, published in 1940.
Ladybird books stamp details
Issue date: 14 September
Design: True North
Stamp size: 41mm x 30mm
Printer: International Security Printers, lithography
Perforations: 14.5 x 14
Phosphor: Bars as appropriate
Gum: PVA
1st - Key Words Reading Scheme
1st - Stories and Rhymes
2nd - Adventures from History
2nd - Well-loved tales
£1.40 - People at Work
£1.40 - Hobbies and How it Works
£1.57 - Achievements
£1.57 - Nature and Conservation
Adapted from an in-depth article on the Ladybird Book stamps, from the October issue of Stamp & Coin Mart magazine, available from our website.