Calf of Man is the Isle of Man, located in the Irish Sea between England and Northern Ireland.  The island is 33 miles long and 12 miles wide.  It is the ancient home of the Norse invaders, and Britain's oldest parliament, the Tynwald, was held here.  It came under the British crown in 1927, having been a personal fief of the Earls of Derby for four centuries.

Postal independence occurred on July 5, 1973.  Thus the island became the third British area to split off from the mainland, joining Guernsey and Jersey, who left in October 1969.  Local carriage labels began in 1962 and 400 different, including several Scout commemoratives, were printed to 1973, when they became illegal.

SOSSI Journal, Volume 20, Number 12, December 1971