Visit to a Stamp Store

BG, How straightforward is it to get covers serviced at the P.O. counters back to your home (or anywhere else for that matter)? Or is the same old attitude as many other places; you know - they look at you as though you should be on medication?

BTW, I hope you are having a jolly, super, spiffing time over there. 
 

If no photos, a name & location may suffice to find them.

I meant Hawaii specifically. Are they more tolerant post office workers and happy in their work?

Great idea for a thread!

I don't remember the last time I've visited a brick-and-mortar stamp shop. It was certainly before I attended Pacific '97 in San Francisco twenty years ago!  :o

Unfortunately, there are none at all here in Phuket, Thailand. We do have one of 12 provincial philatelic museums run by Thailand Post; the museum leaves a lot to be desired but the sales counter is okay for Thai stamps going back perhaps two or three years and the various products such as yearbooks and FDC's. One or two of the staffers there understand enough English that I can explain unusual requests. They have been known to give me the heavy-duty hand-canceler so that I can postmark my own covers and postcards on occasion.

I am not sure if there are still any stamp shops in Bangkok or even if the weekly philatelic market outside of the old GPO is still in operation. I never had the chance to visit them in the past as my only forays to Bangkok were either quick day-trips to the U.S. Embassy (fly up early in the morning, get my work done, fly back in the afternoon or evening) or transits on the way somewhere else.

But, I am planning to attend the late King's funeral rites (4-day procession and cremation) in late October so. A big part of my plan for this trip is to visit any remaining stamp shops and the philatelic market if it still exists.

If any forum members have any details of Bangkok stamp shops, etc. I would love to hear them. Of course, I will document my visits here on TSF with photographs and commentary...

I have written a few posts on my blog about my visits and some wild-goose treasure hunt chases that didn't result in anything. Reproducing what I wrote in May 2016.

Revisiting Daryaganj Sunday Book Market (15 May 2016)

I finally managed to visit the Daryaganj Sunday Book market (link opens Google Maps) in New Delhi after more than three decades. Things have changed over the years as expected. Books aren't the only things being sold there, infact they have been relegated to the background by other wares including cheap clothes and sports goods.



Even after more than three decades I found the stamp seller in the same place (towards Chandi Chowk end of Daryaganj). I wasn't sure if he was the same one so I asked him how long has he been coming here. He said he had been coming here for almost 40 years. Wow, I probably had found the same stamp seller from whom I used to buy stamps when I was a kid. I told him I used to probably buy stamps from him and we exchanged notes on how times have changed. There were a few other old timers who were rummaging through the stamps looking for what might be new this week. He gave me his card and I will probably visit him at his shop instead of the Sunday market. I missed the opportunity to click a pic of him or his little space in the market.



Despite commonsense, I didn't bargain with him. He said he was giving the best price as I was an old customer. I don't know if it was the best price, and I didn't really care. It was just a great feeling to be reliving the moment.



Tip -- The weather is too hot and sunny right now. The heat is just too much so be prepared and take caution. If you guys in Delhi are planning to visit, I would advice that you don't do it for another three-four months till weather cools down a bit.

The gentleman in the cap is stamp dealer Jaleel Ahmed, a gentle soul who always offers me tea when I go there.

http://instagram.com/p/BObuX_JgDKK

Scenes from the Sunday market

Mark, sorry for temporarily forgetting my promise to send you a copy of the business card for the dealer I visited in Bangkok.  Here is the card, complete with an area map on the back.  If you go to visit the shop, would love to hear about it!

I realize that I have been remiss in adding to this thread, as I have been doing some travel this year, and I have managed to visit some stamp stores.  I am still planning to write more for the TSF Newsletter on this subject, but I thought that a post here would be timely, too.

Tokyo, Japan
I mentioned in the thread on Birds on Stamps that there is a Philatelic Museum here in Tokyo, which also has some small stamp shops.  This past weekend, I went to check out the museum and try my luck with the dealers. This is all found in a rather unobtrusive building located in the Toshima neighborhood of Tokyo, and fortunately for me, there was a simple “straight shot” route on one of the subway lines between my usual hotel in central Tokyo and the museum.

The museum has a combination of display boards which show both permanent features and temporary ones which change every three months. The current seasonal display was a topical collection of “Working Vehicles” on stamps from around the world, which showed a variety of trucks, fire engines, police cars, earth-moving and construction equipment, and more. It was very well assembled and nicely displayed, but I had forgotten that everything written on the boards is only in Japanese, so although I could admire the stamps, I could not easily understand the descriptive text, which was too bad.

Shopping opportunities are plentiful here.  There is a museum shop and three dealers.  My long-time favorite, Mona Lisa Stamps, is owned and run by Charles Bernard, an American expatriate who has lived in Japan for more than 40 years. Charles is always interesting and fun to talk to, and he usually has some clearance items with special discounted prices which are a very good deal.

On this occasion, he offered me a wide selection of mint, never-hinged souvenir sheets from the 1960s through 1980s at face value, so I picked up 10-20 of those to use as trading material with a friend of mine who loves souvenir sheets. Then I moved on to the Japan classic material, where I found a copy of Scott #88 in mint, hinged condition, with beautifully bright deep ultramarine color, and great centering. It is simply the nicest copy of this stamp that I have ever been able to find, after many years of looking.

I was also able to find a very fine used copy of Scott #110, which was issued in 1905 to commemorate the forced joining of the Japan and Korea postal services. This stamp was issued on the 1st of July that year, on the day after Korean stamps were officially withdrawn from sale. This stamp was used in Japan itself, but also in the Japan Offices in China and Korea.

Charles and his wife, who works by his side at the stamp shop, kindly allowed me to take a photo of them with their display, and told me to come and visit them again the next time I am in Tokyo, which I promised to do. If you look in the photo just behind Charles, you will see a picture of the Mona Lisa on the wall, for whom the shop is named. Look for a more detailed account of this visit in a future TSF Newsletter article.


Outside of the Philatelic Museum Building (note the interesting mail box on the far left--I will post a separate image of that on the mail box thread)


Mona Lisa Stamps with Charles Bernard and his wife (note the picture of Mona Lisa on the wall just behind Charles)


Display cases in the Philatelic Museum shop

I was in a Hobby Lobby recently and happily surprised to see the stamp supplies. On the other hand today I drove through the city I grew up in and was sad to see my old stamp store was no more.

What a thread. I grew up in Scarborough (eastern part of Toronto) and would take the GO Train in to Toronto every so often to visit my favourite stamp shop - George S. Wegg. What an amazing shop that was. You could spend hours there perusing all they had. But unfortunately, like quite a few others, it is long since closed its doors.

Another fave was at the Scarborough Town Centre shopping mall. Just a little shop, but I loved going in there & seeing what was new. This was in the early 70's! I'm certain it closed its doors a long time ago as well.

Nowadays, there is nothing near me, so the internet is where I go to buy now. It is just TOO convenient, if you ask me, as I have spent quite a bit amassing new stamps in the past couple years. I really need to kill off my credit card to cut down on spending! Maybe one of these days...

Today I visited Østerbro Frimærkehandel, an old stamp shop in Copenhagen. It was like going 40 years back in time. There were loads of albums and boxes al over the place, and I was aloud to going trough it all alone. I ended up with baying an 1945 to 90 Austrian colection in a nice Davo album. And a huge archive box with pergament envelopes, and an old Faroe Islands postagestamps and postmarks cataloge from 1986.



The grand old man Leif Bendixen

Jon, I'm alredy thinking on how to get there again before we leave Copenhagen. I think the shop is closed today, will look and see. I will try to visit some other stamp shops today, at Nørrebro. Wife will go to antik shops I hope.

I don't know the rent, but i think he might own the place himself? 
I was to 4 other shops today, all closed. Some was closed for summer and some closed on tuesdays. They all looked more or less like the shop I wisited yesterday. 
Leaving Copenhagen tomorrow, but will try to locate some more stamp shops elswhere in Denmark.

Hello Beryllium Guy. 

I would recommend you Østerbro FrimærkeHandel. He has a lot of stuff, but you need time. I think he opens at 1200, and are open on mondays, if I remember right. 

I visited some other stores, but they all where closed, for summer or at that particular day. They all looked interesting, old time stores with a lot of stuff everywhere. They are all on the other side of town than Østerbro Frimærkehandel. 

There are no or little information on internet about these stampshops, and if there are it is not accurate. They should have a little help to promote themselves

If you need more info (where the other shops is, just ask) I will look at this forum several times today so I can be at help. 

BTW. I did get around in Copenhagen on a bike (bicycle). Rent a Donkey republic  bicykle if you are familiar with cycling. Copenhagen is flat, no hills so it is easy to get around. 

Earlier this year my wife son and I visited family and friends in Germany.....the University town of Tübingen wasn't far and since I'd never been there, we were due for a visit.

The historic, picturesque town is very well-preserved, with lots to see and do.  There is also a friendly woman, Renate Schrepfer, who is the second-generation owner of the only existing stamp store in town.  Her shop is located at the very beginning of the old town area, in a small ancient building.  

Blink and you'd miss it.  

I blinked, and I missed it!  Luckily I had GoogleMaps on my phone and backtracked a few meters.  Briefmarkenhaus Schrepfer, 32 Lange Gasse in 72070 Tübingen, Germany has been in business for at least 50 years or more; I chatted with the delightful, slightly elderly Frau Schrepfer about the feasibility of staying in the stamp business these days.  Her parents opened the shop many years ago; she herself, although extremely knowledgable about stamps, has zero interest in stamps herself.  An admitted bridge enthusiast, she'd rather play with OTHER bits of paper (playing cards) in her limited spare time.  I told her I know how she felt!  Her philatelic experience comes from many years helping out in her parents' shop; now she is the sole proprietor with no younger family member interested in keeping the family business running.  

Unfortunately there is no website, internet sales or any other high-tech modern ways to seek out items Frau Schrepfer may have tucked away, just begging for a better home.  Her entire clientele is based on mostly local walk-ins, referrals, and the occasional collector from afar like myself.  During the hour or two I was there she had several walk-in customers.  One or two seemed like local regulars, and walked out with what seemed likely rather small purchases.

The shop had lots of supplies and a fair amount of literature for the average German collector (Michel, Lighthouse, and much more) and the usual shelves upon shelves of albums after albums.  In between were even more shelves with bulging stock books, overflowing cartons and accumulations of stamps from all four corners of the world.   There was also a huge, opened safe (we're talking twice the size of an America refrigerator!). The "better" stuff was crammed inside, Frau Schrepfer said, although it looked like the safe's door was blocked by too many stamp books to be swung shut and locked!

Since I had only an hour or two, and not that much money to spend, my stated mission was to search ONLY for postal history, as I couldn't possibly lug any stamp albums around Europe, no matter how good the deal.  Unfortunately Frau Schrepfer said she did not have that much postal history , but I was able to browse several books and boxes. One of the nicer items I picked out is a German cover with a (likely contrived) bi-sect.  When I find it I will scan and post it in this thread!

Frau Schrepfer was very reasonable with her other prices, but neither of us knew what a fair price for the bisect cover was.  She mentioned ten Euros and although inclined to bargain a bit, I accepted her gracious offer.  Especially since she probably has everyone else trying to get something for half price!

I highly encourage visitors to Tuebingen (a few miles southeast of Stuttgart) to stop by Briefmarkenhaus Schrepfer and browse her extensive, but not expensive stock of stamps; you may find a long-sought treasure, fill some empty album pages, and just enjoy chatting with her as well!




--Jim Wentzell
stampguyaps177-681