Have you ever inherited or acquired a hobby from someone else? I really hadn't until now. My husband and I were going through his memorabilia trunk in the garage, and he remarked, "Oh look. My stamp collection that my dad gave me." I looked down and saw all these loose stamps, and a stamp collecting book. Then my husband remarked that there were more in the shoebox that he was holding in his hand. Now let me just say that I've never wanted to collect coins and/or stamps. I think they're neat, but I don't know. I just never wanted to collect them. However, my love for familial artifacts kicked in, and as I started fussing at my husband for keeping this collection so haphazzardly, I grabbed everything and took them in the house.
O.K. I Get It Now
Now I see why people collect them. This collection is pretty big. I'm guestimating around 500 or so. Some are attached to notebook paper. Some are attached to their appropriate spots in the album, and there's a ton of them just loose. Some of the loose ones are attached to a portion of the original envelopes. Most are cancelled, but some are not. Most are in pretty good condition otherwise. I don't think a whole lot of them are worth a lot, but because of the size and variety of the collection, looking at them is like looking through a history book. There are, of course, American ones as well as international ones. Some of the countries that are represented don't even exist anymore. Some of the international ones include, Tokyo, Honk Kong, Laos, Liberia, Czechoslovakia, Argentina, Iceland, Tunesia, Germany, India, Belgium, Australia, Great Britain, Guatemala, Turkey, Ireland, Italy, Yugoslavia, Monaco, The Netherlands, Norway, Nigeria, Congo, Togo, Phillipines, Poland, San Marino, Spain, South Africa, France, China, Canada, Bohemia, and Denmark. Some of the outstanding American ones are those that commemorate parts of American History.
Who Knew?
So now I have a new hobby. Stamp collecting. [Who knew?] Now I need to read up on proper stamp archiving and identify and organize all the loose stamps. Also now I have something else to look for in the antique shops. I guess I could just keep the collection and not add to it, but there are quite a few empty spots in the book. They're kind of calling out to me. You know, like a challenge. Like I didn't have anything else to do. [rolling eyes heavenward] Also, when you think about it, each one of the stamps has a story about its origins. Not only that, but there was someone who bought each stamp, affixed it to an envelope, and sent it to someone else. What were their stories? I'll never know, but the best thing about it all is I now have a grand resource for images to compliment my family stories, which makes me about as happy as a pig in mud.
Here's a peek at the collection:
very cool.I have never wanted to collect stamps or the like either but that is a great collection.
ReplyDeleteIn the last picture is that a stamp with Hitler on it?
That's what it looks like to me, but I haven't looked it up, yet. Thanks for stopping by!
ReplyDeleteCaroline
Wow Caroline, what an awesome collection! You know I never wanted to collect stamps either, but I have a passion for letter/card writing and would keep the envelopes with the stamps in a file from that person! Or, I keep one stamp from each set I buy. I have always and still buy my stamps to match holidays or fall, etc. - kind of nerdy huh! I have stamps from Germany and all over but never thought of it as a collection! I may be re-thinking that after reading your great post! Thanks for the inspiration!
ReplyDeleteThat is some collection! Don't think of them as stamps, think of them as family heirlooms!
ReplyDeleteThis is my first visit to your blog. I arrived here as I meandered my way through the BBF awards. Congratulations on the award. Your blog is beautiful! I enjoyed this post. I have a collection of stamps, though I don't actually "collect" stamps. I enjoy the images. At a 2nd hand store I found an empty stamp book with 5 or 6 glassine strips across each page so the stamps can be slipped into the pockets the strips make. It was very fun to organize all the stamps that had collected. I should pull them out and use them now that I have a blog. I hope you have lots of fun with your new collection. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteNancy from My Ancestors and Me at www.nancysfamilyhistoryblog.blogspot.com
Man there is nothing more venerated in this country then having someone put your gleaming face on a stamp... and then hitting it with brute force with an INK stamp to put awful lines on your face before mailing you.
ReplyDeleteNancy, thanks for coming by and congratulating on my award. Also, thank you for the wonderful compliments. I'm glad that you enjoyed reading my blog!
ReplyDelete~Caroline
Boomka, I totally agree with you on the whole hideous-lines-across-the-face-of-the-stamps thing, but would you believe in the "stamp collecting world" [Never thought I'd ever say that particular phrase...] some canceled stamps are worth more than uncanceled ones? Supposedly, the worth is where they came from, not who's on the stamp. Kinda like people. Go figure. Thanks for visiting my blog!
~Caroline