Just in time for Remembrance Day, honour Canadian home front heroes with this Official First Day Cover honouring the contributions of the Soldiers of the Soil, who provided much needed farm labour in Canada during the First World War.

Good to know

The Farmerettes and Soldiers of the Soil issue is available in multiple formats:

Booklet of 10 Permanent™ domestic rate stamps
Soldiers of the Soil: Official First Day Cover
Farmerettes: Official First Day Cover
Pane of 6 Permanent™ domestic rate stamps
Permanent™ domestic rate is always accepted at the current domestic postage price.

About the issue

Farm labour shortages due in part to men leaving for military service in the First and Second World Wars led to national and provincial initiatives to maintain both the domestic food supply and Canada’s commitment and ability to produce food for Britain and the Allied troops overseas.

Teenage boys and young women recruited to work on farms through national initiatives is an example of how civilian members of society stepped in to help with the war effort at home.

This stamp issue salutes the young women and men whose labour through two world wars helped keep plates – and stomachs – full, both on the front and at home.

Soldiers of the Soil

In early 1918, the Canada Food Board created the national Soldiers of the Soil (SOS) initiative, to recruit boys 15 to 19 years of age to work on farms for the remainder of the war. The program’s acronym aptly spelled out the Morse code call for help.

More than 22,000 boys enrolled in the program. They planted, tended and harvested vegetables and fruit, helped with haying and cared for livestock. In return they received monthly wages, as well as room and board.

High school students who worked a minimum of three months were exempted from classes and exams.

The boys had the option of buying a military-like work uniform consisting of khaki pants and a shirt with brass S.O.S. buttons, along with a straw harvester hat.

At the completion of their term, they were awarded a bronze lapel badge of honour – similar to a service medal – inscribed with S.O.S. The badge was presented upon their “honorable discharge,” often at a community ceremony that acknowledged their valuable wartime contribution.

About the design

The front cover features an image of Soldier of the Soil G.S. “Gerry” Andrews ploughing a wheat field in Purves, Manitoba, 1918. (Estate of G.S. Andrews, courtesy of the Andrews family.)

The Official First Day Cover is cancelled on October 28, 2024, in La Rivière, Manitoba, the closest post office to the Purves location where the photo was shot.

Product # 414268131

Soldiers of the Soil: Official First Day Cover