Air New Zealand searching for commemorative stamp stars

Media release
15 January 2015

Air New Zealand searching for commemorative stamp stars

Air New Zealand is looking to solve a mystery by tracking down three women whose younger selves feature on the airline’s 75th anniversary commemorative stamps, which went on sale this week.

This year Air New Zealand will celebrate 75 years of operations and has joined together with New Zealand Post to issue the commemorative stamp collection.

The stamp issue features five stamps showcasing the airline’s people, aircraft and marketing over the past seven and a half decades.

The airline is searching for two young girls appearing on one of the commemorative stamps and a toddler holding the hand of NAC’s first Ground Hostess Margaret Gould on another.

Air New Zealand’s Head of Global Brand Development Jodi Williams says through the archival process the airline has learnt that the children were likely relatives of former staff however their identities remain a mystery.

“Our archival team and a group of volunteers have spent thousands of hours over the course of a year documenting historical footage and working to identify those who have featured in some of our older marketing campaigns however nowhere in our archives can we find the names of the little girls in the stamps,” says Ms Williams says.

“Having your face on a stamp is pretty special and generally only happens for famous New Zealanders. But these images were chosen for their strong link to not only Air New Zealand’s history but New Zealand’s history.

“We would love to hear from these three women and to be able to put names to the faces appearing in these iconic images.”

The black and white image is believed to have been taken in the late 1940s or early 1950s while the photo with the two young girls was taken onboard in 1977.

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