Burke: Rather than stamp our feet in anger, let’s collect ‘em

By Tom Burke / Herald columnist

Let’s not talk about politics, the economy, covid or vaccines.

Franklin Roosevelt was America’s most famous stamp collector, being seen in scores of pictures, ensconced behind his desk, surrounded by albums, magnifying glass in hand, examining one of his prized 1.2 million philatelic possessions; or working with his postmaster, James A. Farley, to produce one of 200 stamps he personally designed, not out of vanity or the whimsical use of power, but to further his New Deal agenda (via a WPA Boulder Dam stamp); revive Depression-era America spirits (with a “Whistler’s Mother” Mom’s Day issue); and highlight historical milestones (issuing a Jamestown 350th Anniversary commemorative).

Way back then, youngsters like my father avidly imitated the president and collected stamps. They learned about geography, history and politics; then passed the hobby along to their kids (I still have Pop’s collection and my own). But today, stamp collecting is in state of … well, it’s tough to describe in a word or two, says one expert I consulted.

My stamp maven says the hobby isn’t necessarily growing; but it ain’t dying neither. Among those 50-plus it’s semi-vibrant; with the 5- to 15-year-olds it’s sorta hanging on; but among teens to 40-plus it’s moribund.

And while covid-19 has given more people more time for hobbies, and the internet’s made it easier get stamp stuff, an emerging problem professionals are encountering is the influx of new sellers who just “discovered” an old family collection and think they’re sitting on a get-me-rich treasure trove.

The expert’s estimation: Most of these collections contain common, hardly-any-value stamps with some 60 percent of the collections worth … the gum-backed paper they’re printed on. Which frustrates dealers and tends to upset sellers who they think they’re getting ripped off.

Now it doesn’t take much to become a stamp collector; just an album, some stamp-affixing hinges, and perhaps a magnifying glass. Oh yeah, and stamps.

Ahhh, but what kind of stamps?

Well, whatever floats yer boat.

Maybe a nice collection of boat stamps; or stamps with jazz greats. How about U.S. stamps from the ’30s and ’40s; stamps with Star Wars figures, butterflies or airplanes, or a single country’s stamps.

Some folks collect air-crash-damaged stamps and/or envelopes; some collect errors (the most famous being an upside-down airmail stamp); while others like “First Day Covers” (envelopes and stamps from their first day of issue). The 80th Bugs Bunny Anniversary Cover, for instance, issued in Burbank, Calif., on July 27, 2020, with a picture of Bugs and Elmer Fudd, inscribed “What’s up, Doc?” is yours for only $6 through internet stamp dealers!

The stamp-collector stereotype — a 50-plus male empty nester (with no kids so he has time and money for a hobby), somewhat introverted, who wants to escape the world for a few hours a week — is probably fairly accurate. While women are getting into the hobby, younger kids don’t seem to be, reports my expert. And that, he says, does not bode well for the future.

I collected stamps both as a youth (as did my wife) and sporadically dabbled until we safely packed up all the stamp stuff for our move to Washington seven years ago. It’s being liberated again, and I’m getting back into the hobby.

Why? you might ask.

Well, first because I need an escape. All the “stuff” going on tends to overwhelm, and relief is needed.

And, as I have a great interest in the 1920s to 1950s, I focus on that era. I enjoy the music, the completely mythical “good old days” (they weren’t all that good), and the culture of an America not as it was, but as we wish it were. Many of the stamps of that era feed into that fiction.

I also like the historical connection stamps can bring, whether overprinted with “500 Million Marks,” (to mail a letter!) demonstrating the hyper-inflation of the 1920s German Weimar Republic or stamps of the hundreds of Indian “Princely States” prior to WWII illustrating the feudal antecedents of modern India.

The hobby’s future is an issue of debate, it seems.

Will it die off as collectors age out?

Is there some sort of stamp collecting gene that does a time-release when one reaches age 51?

Will kids give up screen time to soak stamps off envelopes, research their background, and then hinge them into albums?

Or will they use the web (and not stamped envelopes) to pay bills, send birthday greetings, and author declarations undying love doom the hobby?

For me, stamps are a way to break free from our new, stay-at-home existence and travel, at least in my mind, back in time and across oceans.

I’m not sure I’d go so far as Roosevelt, saying, “I owe my life to my hobbies; especially stamp collecting;” but is has brought me many hours of pleasure. And that makes it a hobby to pursue.

Stay safe. Mask up.

Tom Burke’s email address is t.burke.column@gmail.com.