Women on Postcards | S Is for Seagull

The Seagull
 Portrait of Valentina Tereshkova, 1964.
By Soviet Amir Nuriakhmetovich Mazitov (1928-1992)

Валентина Терешкова ('Valentina Tereshkova', born 1937) is a Russian engineer, politician, and former Soviet cosmonaut. 

Having flown a solo mission on Vostok 6 on 16 June 1963, Tereshkova became the first woman in space; she remains the only woman to have flown into space solo, and, at 26 years of age, the youngest. Her call sign on this flight was Чайка, (Chaika, 'Seagull'). After her launch, she radioed down:

It is I, Seagull! Everything is fine. I see the horizon; it's a sky blue with a dark strip. How beautiful the Earth is ... everything is going well.

Eduard (Russia) sent the postcard with two matching stamps: a Russian stamp issued in 2013 that commemorates the 50th anniversary of the first woman in space (It includes a seagull!). And a Soviet one issued 30 years before with the same motive: 20th anniversary of Tereshkova's Vostok 6 flight.

This postcard was sent on 25th December 2025, and arrived just this week. It took less time to reach the Moon!

Sunday Stamps | J Is for Jazz

Billie Holiday

USA, 1994

Bessie Smith

USA, 1994

Erroll Garner / Eubie Blake

USA, 1995

1920's - Jazz Flourishes

USA, 1998

Eleanor Collins

Canada, 2022

These are my J-stamps for Sunday Stamps.

Sunday Stamps | X Is for +

The stamp on the left was issued in 2021, and bears the title Герои нашего времени ('Heros of Our Times'). The stamp on the right is a 2015 one dedicated to Служба крови ('Blood Service'), the State Program of Voluntary Donation.

A Red Cross stamps from France, from 1973 (Mary Magdalene).

These are the X post for A-Z Sunday Stamps.

Sunday Stamps | W Is for White

Betty White (1922 - 2021), was an American actress and comedian. A pioneer of early television with a career spanning almost seven decades, she was noted for her vast number of television appearances, acting in sitcoms, sketch comedy, and game shows. One of her biggest roles is Rose on the sitcom The Golden Girls (1985–1992).

The stamp honouring White was issued on 27 March 2025. Phillip sent it on an envelope along with the first day postmark and the perfect postcard inside!

This is the W-entry for the A-Z Sunday Stamps I dedicate to Women on Stamps.

Sunday Stamps | V Is for Vote

Stamp (and first day postmark) issued in 2020 the U.S. Postal Service, which commemorates the centennial of the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote.

And this is no the first time I have chosen this topic for Sunday Stamps.

When preparing this post, I received this postcard with a related stamp: on top, a stamp issued in 1970 for the 50th anniversary of the 19th Amendment:

The other stamp was issued in 1975, when the UN declared International Women's Day.

Sunday Stamps | U is for UN Women

Planet

The United Nations Postal Administration marks 2025's International Women’s Day, celebrated annually March 8, with six stamps. Each one shows an illustration depicting a certain theme that is displayed in text running up the left side of the stamp: Planet, Power, Sécurité ('Safety'), Prosperité ('Prosperity'), Frieden ('Peace') and Zugang ('Access').

Power

I received two of them on the front and back of this postcard sent by Bryon.

And a third one on another postcard:

Prosperité (='Prosperity')

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Sticking to women on stamps for this A-Z round of Sunday Stamps. See more U-stamps!

Sunday Stamps | S Is for Shadd

Mary Ann Shadd (1823 – 1893) was an American-Canadian anti-slavery activist, journalist, publisher, teacher, and lawyer. She was the first black woman publisher in North America and the first woman publisher in Canada. Mary Shadd established the newspaper Provincial Freeman in 1853, which was published weekly in southern Ontario. It advocated equality, integration, and self-education for black people in Canada and the United States.

Mary's family was involved in the Underground Railroad, assisting those fleeing slavery in the United States.

This is the S post for A-Z Sunday Stamps.

Sunday Stamps | R is for Randoin

Lucie Randoin (1888 – 1960) was a French biologist, nutritionist, and hygienist. She was made a commander of the Legion of Honour in 1958 and is known for her research on vitamins. Se was the second woman to teach at the Faculty of Sciences in Paris (Sorbonne) and the first female biologist at the Academy of Medicine after Marie Curie.

This is my R-stamp for the A-Z Sunday Stamps dedicated to women on stamps.

Sunday Stamps | Q Is for Quimby

Harriet Quimby (1875 – 1912) was an American pioneering aviator, journalist, and film screenwriter. In 1911, she became the first woman in the United States to receive a pilot's license and in 1912 the first woman to fly solo across the English Channel. 

The stamp was issued in 1991.

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This is the Q post for the A-Z Sunday Stamps.

Sunday Stamps | P Is for Powwow

Powwows are gatherings with dances held by many Native American and First Nations communities. Inaugurated in 1923, powwows today are an opportunity to socialize, dance, sing, and honor their cultures. Powwows may be private or public, indoors or outdoors, and they vary in length from single-day to weeklong events.

The stamps issued this year by USPS showcase original paintings of Native American dancers by artist Mateo Romero. The four stamps include different dancings. On this one, you can see the Women’s Traditional Dance.

Go to Sunday Stamps to enjoy more P-stamps.

Sunday Stamps | O is for Oosterwijck

Maria van Oosterwijck (1630-1693) was a Dutch painter, specialising in richly detailed flower paintings and other still lifes.

I like when they include so much information on the stamp, or the selvedge, like in this case. According to an online traductor, it says:

Still life painter, working n Delft and Amsterdam. Her father was a  minister, but through her mother she had connections to the artistic world. She sold her work to Jan Vorster, from all over Europe, at a reasonable price. 

This is my O-stamp for A-Z Sunday Stamps.

Sunday Stamps | N Is for Nèvejean

Yvonne Nèvejean (1900 – 1987) was one of the leaders of an organisation that helped hide Jewish children in Nazi-occupied Belgium during World War II. She was instrumental in hiding about 4000 children. After the war she was honoured inside and outside Belgium, and in 1996 this stamp was issued.

See more N-stamps on today's Sunday Stamps post.

Sunday Stamps | M Is for Mukhina

Vera Mukhina (1889 – 1953) was a famous sculptor, the creator of the monument Worker and Kolkhoz Woman, the winner of the Grand Prix at the exhibition in Paris for a collection of women's clothing decorated with painted peas and, according to the legend, the designer of Russian faceted glass.

The stamps was sent by Eduard (Russia) on the back of this matching postcard:

Portrait by Mikhail Nesterov

My Sunday Stamps A-Z is dedicated to women on stamps. See here more M-stamps!

Sunday Stamps | L is for Lewis

Edmonia Lewis, also known as "Wildfire" (1844 – 1907), was an American sculptor. She was the first African-American and Native American sculptor to achieve national and then international prominence. Among her more popular works: Old Indian Arrowmaker and His Daughter, Forever Free, Hagar and The Death of Cleopatra.

This is my L-entry for this round of A-Z Sunday Stamps.

Sunday Stamps | K Is for Kirchbach & Knef

Esther von Kirchbach (1894 – 1946) was a German journalist, poet and chaplain of the Confessing Church.

Hildegard Knef (1925 – 2002) was a German actress, singer, and writer. Her two best-known film roles were in Die Mörder sind unter uns ('The Murderers Are Among Us'), produced in 1946  and the first film released after the Second World War in East Germany; and in Die Sünderin ('The Sinner'), in which she performed a brief nude scene, the first in German film history, which caused a scandal in 1951.

Go to Sunday Stamps to see more K related stamps!

Sunday Stamps | J Is for Jordan

Barbara Jordan (1936 – 1996) was an American lawyer, educator, and politician. A member of the Democratic Party, she was the first African American elected to the Texas Senate since Reconstruction and the first southern African-American woman elected to the US House of Representatives.

More J-stamps on A-Z Sunday Stamps. 

Sunday Stamps | I Is for Isabella II

The first Spanish stamps reproduce the image of Isabella II, queen o Spain from 1833 until 1868. The same stamp was issued in different colours and face values. 

Spain was the tenth country to adopt the innovative system ot the stamps, and the first Spanish stamps were issued on 1st January 1850. Until 1865, stamps were presented without perforation, with a separation between stamps of one mil·límetre, and had to be separated by scissors. 

6.227.090 of these black stamps were sold during 1850. However, only five envelopes bearing it have survived.

On 7 January 2025, this self-adhesive stamp was issued to commemorate the 175th anniversary.

(This is the I-post for A-Z Sunday Stamps.)

Sunday Stamps | H Is for Height & Horne

Dorothy Height (1912 – 2010) was an African-American civil rights and women's rights activist. She is credited as the first leader in the civil rights movement to recognize inequality for women and African Americans as problems that should be considered as a whole. She was the president of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years. Height's role in the Big Six civil rights movement was frequently ignored by the press due to sexism. 

Lena Horne (1917 – 2010) was an American singer, actress, dancer and civil rights activist. A groundbreaking African-American performer, Horne advocated for civil rights and took part in the March on Washington in August 1963.

More H-stamps on Sunday Stamps!

Sunday Stamps | G Is for Gender Violence

Every year, Correos (the Spanish postal service) issues a stamp dedicated to Civic Values -a set of behaviours that is considered positive for the development of society. The theme in 2020 was No to Gender Based Violence.

This is my G-stamp for this round of A-Z Sunday Stamps (dedicated to women in Mail Adventures).

Sunday Stamps | F is for Feminist

Simonne Monet-Chartrand (1919 – 1993) was a Canadian labor activist, feminist writer, and pacifist.

The stamp were issued in 2023, along with two more stamps featuring Léa Roback and Madeleine Parent. All three women were born in Montréal and were lifelong advocates for women’s and workers’ rights and other causes. You can read more about them in the Canada Post online magazine.

This is my F entry for the A-Z Sunday Stamps.