This book reorganizes my postage stamp collection to highlight the absence of women on stamps. Portraits of kings, politicians, and generals have dominated postage stamp design since the small pieces of paper came to facilitate the delivery of mail in the 1840s. Women, if and when they appear on stamps, assume the traditional roles assigned to them: mothers, caretakers, and passive objects to be seen. The separate spheres ideology, the public-domestic dichotomy—is effectively visualized in stamp design.

The book is organized into three categories, Famous Men, Commemorative Events, and Sports. Each section is punctuated by a stamp (or stamps) showing the female counterpart. The book’s design is heavily influenced by my own 1950s era Ambassador Album for Postage Stamps of the World, borrowing typographic choices and page design. Each stamp in this book was scanned from my own collection. The book was printed on a very tired inkjet school printer and perfect bound by me.