This period of First Day Covers in Barbados is quite interesting, as most issues were simply available on plain envelopes, onto which a relevant cancel was added. It was not until 1965 that a regular pre-printed illustrated cover was used by the Philatelic Bureau, and even then, it appears to have been sporadic at times.
Most covers of the time have either Registration Branch, Circulation Branch or Parish cancels, with some of the Parishes being exceedingly hard to find. The first ‘Philatelic’ cancel that I have was 1968 and even then the cancel didn’t say FDC or First Day Cover. Currently, the FDC’s with the most variations on a printed cover are the 1966 Sir Winston Churchill issue, the Independence issue in 1966 and the 1967 UNESCO issue, where I have managed to obtain three different printed covers. Whilst the Churchill issue is an obvious candidate for multiple covers, it’s not clear why the UNESCO issue should have the most different types of printed cover, but it will be fascinating to see, over time, if there are other issues that have more than this.
Barbados 1961 Deep Water Harbour FDC - text only cover
Barbados 1961 Deep Water Harbour FDC - Post Horn illustrated cover
Barbados 1961 Deep Water Harbour FDC - photograph of harbour cover
Barbados 1961 Deep Water Harbour FDC - line drawing of Lightermen cover
Barbados 1962 Boy Scout Association Golden Jubilee FDC - illustrated cover (2)
Barbados 1962 Boy Scout Association Golden Jubilee FDC - illustrated cover
Barbados 1962 Boy Scout Association Golden Jubilee FDC - illustrated cover with green type
Barbados 1965 ITU Centenary FDC - illustrated cover
Barbados 1965 Marine Life Definitives FDC - set of 3 covers with Black Rock cancels