| Name | Value |
|---|---|
| Date of Issue | January 21, 2022 |
| Year | 2022 |
| Quantity | 900,000 |
| Denomination |
 PERMANENT™ (P).Current monetary value: $0.92. |
| Series | Black History Month |
| Series Time Span | 2011 - 2024 |
| Postal Administration | Canada |
| Condition | Name | Avg Value |
|---|
This booklet of 6 PermanentTM domestic rate stamps pays tribute to Eleanor Collins, C.M., known as Canada’s first lady of jazz.
The stamp features an illustration by David Belliveau based on photographs by Franz Lindner, CBC Still Photo Collection. The cover of the booklet features an enlargement of the stamp image; the inside includes a photo of Collins on the set of the television program Quintet on January 3, 1962, also by Lindner.
A living legend at 102 years old, Collins was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on November 21, 1919. She grew up singing gospel with her family before winning a talent contest at age 15 that ignited her musical career. Collins moved to Vancouver in the late 1930s, and her mesmerizing vocals and sophisticated style were soon gracing the stages of clubs and concert venues as well as on recordings and live radio broadcasts, alongside Canada’s top musicians.
Collins was a trailblazer – becoming the first female Canadian jazz artist (and one of the first Black performers in North America) to host a national television series, The Eleanor Show, in 1955. She hosted a second namesake TV series – Eleanor – in 1964.
Collins was determined to confront and combat racial prejudice by cultivating the principles of equality and acceptance through her professional work and her volunteer work. She appeared as both a lead and a guest on numerous TV and radio shows through the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s and was still performing in concert well into her 90s.
Collins has received several lifetime achievement awards and other accolades, including being appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2014.
Good to know
This Official First Day Cover pays tribute to Eleanor Collins, known as Canada’s first lady of jazz.
The front of the OFDC features a photograph of Collins in August 1955, by Alvin Armstrong, CBC Still Photo Collection. On the back of the OFDC is a photograph of Collins on a television program that aired August 14, 1963, by Franz Lindner, CBC Still Photo Collection.
The cancel location for the stamp is Vancouver, BC, as it is where Collins has lived and worked for most of her life. The cancellation mark is a line drawing of a vintage microphone.
A living legend at 102 years old, Collins was born in Edmonton, Alberta, on November 21, 1919. She grew up singing gospel with her family before winning a talent contest at age 15 that ignited her musical career. Collins moved to Vancouver in the late 1930s, and her mesmerizing vocals and sophisticated style were soon gracing the stages of clubs and concert venues as well as on recordings and live radio broadcasts, alongside Canada’s top musicians.
Collins was a trailblazer – becoming the first female Canadian jazz artist (and one of the first Black performers in North America) to host a national television series, The Eleanor Show, in 1955. She hosted a second namesake TV series – Eleanor – in 1964.
Collins was determined to confront and combat racial prejudice by cultivating the principles of equality and acceptance through her professional work and her volunteer work. She appeared as both a lead and a guest on numerous TV and radio shows through the 1950s, ‘60s and ‘70s and was still performing in concert well into her 90s.
Collins has received several lifetime achievement awards and other accolades, including being appointed a Member of the Order of Canada in 2014.
Canada’s first lady of jazz, Eleanor Collins, c.m., has led a storied life. Still vibrant at 102, the Vancouver-based singer broke new ground in her genre and quietly confronted racial prejudice through her community service.
“I encouraged students in music education; I belonged to the PTA and church choir; I sang at the children’s hospital, in provincial prisons, and to help support charities and civic organizations,” she remembers. “It was my hope that I could help bridge the perceived differences that divide people.”
The daughter of African American homesteaders who immigrated to Edmonton, Alberta, Collins began singing at home and in the Baptist church.
“In my youth of the 1920s, we were all living separate lives of survival and despair as we tried to navigate an often hostile world,” she says. “Coming together to create a vocally harmonic blend brought us much joy and allowed us to forget the challenges and stresses of our lives.”
Discovered at age 15 after winning a local talent contest, Collins went on to enjoy a decades-long career. She performed alongside some of Canada’s top musicians at clubs and concert venues and on radio and TV from the 1940s to 1980s.
She made her television debut in 1954 on Canada’s first television variety show to feature a mixed-race cast: CBC Vancouver’s Bamboula: A Day in the West Indies. The following year, she became Canada’s first female jazz artist to host a national television series, The Eleanor Show – and, nearly 10 years later, headlined her second series, Eleanor.
Reflecting on her longevity, Collins says, “I am grateful to be alive in this new age; for the quality of life I have somehow been able to maintain; for the lovely acknowledgements of my life and work; and for everyone who has been a part of my journey. It has all been a real blessing.”
In our home, she always put family first, and there was really little talk of her professional life. But you could definitely say there was a soundtrack to our lives.
- Judith Maxie, speaking of her mother, Eleanor Collins