A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the...Stamp Forum

Hello Phellow Philatelists! I’m Larry from Long Beach (NY). Looking forward to learning much about this hobby I’ve been dabbling in for many years. So, here’s my story with very little embellishments (forgive the length but one only has ONE intro!)…


Like many of you, I started when I was 7 or 8, getting an Ambassador HE Harris album for my birthday from my oldest (12 years older) brother. He had, what I thought at the time was, a beautiful Regent album. An early memory is of him taking me to the Pennsauken Mart Stamp Store in South Jersey to buy one stamp from Aden. He wanted a stamp to showcase the opening of his album. I remember the colorful, regal stamp was presented in a little cardboard box and I just thought it was the coolest thing. I also thought the stamp was from the country where the Garden of Eden was located so that was extra cool!


I continued buying packets of stamps from my local town stamp shop or Woolworths through High School. And, aside from the occasional purchase or asking friends/family to pick me up stamps from their trips overseas, that was it until recently.


About 6 years ago, something gave me the itch again. Perhaps it was my time buying sports memorabilia on EBAY. I couldn’t believe the world that was opening up to me. After those early years of waiting for my bro or mom driving me to the store to buy a few stamps, I had (literally) the world at my fingertips! It was like I woke up from a Sci-fi movie where I was frozen for 40 years! I could buy, in one purchase at a relatively low cost, an entire collection larger than the one I currently owned! So, I bought some…then bought some more. I bought some albums, then bought some more… (Harris then Scott then Minkus, some stock books and, of course, a Regent!). Somehow, my old Dennison stamp hinges, purchased for 25c in 1970 were now going for $25+.


I joined a local stamp club and enjoyed people’s stories on their stamps, the histories, and what got them excited. My own collection is focused on general WW, with some additional interest in old US (and CSA, FDC), Spain (my faves are still those old big Spanish ships), Belgium (those old cancellations are fun to look at), San Marino/Monaco (vestiges of my young self’s attraction to the colorful array), and the Middle East. In fact, I had to recently separate some of these countries as I noticed some Israeli and Iranian stamps, late at night, sneaking across the borders to visit the others’ stamp pages.


Some of you have already solved an initial question of mine: how does one catalog their stamps these days? I saw someone mentioning Colnet’s website. I still use my old portable “Scott’s US Pamphlet” to manually record my US entries.


Now I need to figure out how I want to store my growing collection…in albums, stock books, or custom binders/pages? With many mint stamps, I assume hinges, the staple of my youth, are no longer realistic. Are hinges out? What about Flex-Seal?! In 40 years, hasn’t there been any cost-efficient technological progress in stamp mounting? I still really like the look of those old Minkus Albums! What to do?!?


So, that’s me. My eyes still glaze over when I see terms like coils, perfs, and watermarks. But, now it’s time to learn a little more. In this current cancel culture, it’s time to understand the PRE-cancel culture!


Looking forward to all your posts. And, assistance. Excuse me while I check the Stamp Forum attic for some old signs I can use as my avatar.

Thanks for opening up all your resources!