Somalia bananas 50 centismi

Somalia bananas 50, originally uploaded by CharlesFred.

Here is the set of Somali deinitive stamps from 1961, at the time we were living in Somalia, which I have scanned from my mother's stamp collection. The most often used stamp for us was the 0,50 Somali Shilling (= 50 centisimi) which covered the cost of an airmail latter back to England.

I have always loved these, the beautiful colours, the simple graphic designs, the lovely dresses, the smiles of the women as they harvest their crops, suggesting a land of bounty. There is so much optimism here, in the year after the two Somalilands became independent. It is believed that the stamps were printed in Rome, cannot find who the artist(s) might have been.