Before I begin, there are no trading cards in this post. Instead, I'm going to touch on one of my other hobbies, stamp collecting. I have been a stamp collector since, well...I don't know when, but based on the items in my collection I'm going to guess around 1991. My stamp collection though is the one I neglect the most. The majority of it has been acquired by cutting them off envelopes we get in the mail. I almost always have a fan on, usually a high powered fan, so working on the collection is challenging. Even in the winter, I have a fan on. My room gets the morning and afternoon sun so it can be 20 degrees out and my room is still 82 degrees in. Now that I have an air conditioner, and have now for many years, it affords me the ability to work on my stamp collection during the summer. When I finish scanning my card collection in a few years scanning my stamp collection is next up.
A few days ago a friend of my brother contacted him because she had a stamp that referenced our ancestral home town in Italy, and asked if he knew anyone who was interested in some world stamps. Of course, he knew me, so I got a big boost to my world stamp collection!
I have not finished labeling them yet, and some of them I need to research more, but I scanned some highlights.
The largest selection was from Italy...
but also represented were Canada...
Cyprus
El Salvador
England
Haiti
Luxembourg
Mexico
and Portugal
All in all, it was probably the largest day of new additions to my world stamp collection ever! I have not counted them yet, but more than 300 new stamps is not outside the realm of possibility.
Finally, here is the stamp that may reference our ancestral home town, Popoli.
I don't know if it really does or not. Google Translate turns it into
General States of the Common Local Authorities for the people of Europe
which seems to imply that in this instance it refers not to the town but to the Italian spelling of people. I know Big Ben is not in Popoli either. It might be a stamp about something totally different, but it did me a huge good deed by giving my collection a big boost.
If anyone would like to see more of my stamp collection, I could very easily work some more in...I have been debating making a stamp specific blog but I really don't know enough to feel like I was correct in what I was writing, for the most part. I will probably make one anyway when I get into scanning my entire collection, to use as a scan backup if nothing else, but that's several years in the future.
Thanks for reading!
Wow...these are miniature works of art! The El Salvador ones are a little strange; haven't seen animals look quite like that. I wonder why the Kennedy ones have 1964 with the date of Nov 22. Maybe it was a special one year anniversary commemorative.
ReplyDeleteIt probably was actually. Anniversaries are popular stamp topics.
DeleteI collected stamps as a kid, but at some point I lost the stamp-collecting spark and never could get it back. I still take notice of neat ones I see and purchase cool stamps from the Post Office from time to time, but that's the extent of it. I think I still have my old stamp album kicking around somewhere downstairs.
ReplyDeleteI do that too! I need to get the Wonder Woman sheet while it's still available.
DeleteMy grandfather was a stamp collector. Never got into it. But I do remember pouring over his collection as a kid
ReplyDeleteGotta be some great memories for you though. I never met my grandfathers.
DeleteNobody else has come out and said it, so I will: Yes, I'd like to see more of your stamps!
ReplyDeleteI was heavy into stamp collecting in high school and belonged to the school's stamp club... but once I lost the "support group", I lost my momentum and never got it back. I still enjoy look at stamps, though.
I like that one "jet flying at night" stamp (RETE AEREA POSTALE NOTTURNA)... I'm pretty sure I have a copy of that one somewhere.
I'll try and work some more in :) My school did not have a stamp club...or any other sort of hobby club, unfortunately. I tend to favor the vehicular stamps and when I saw that one I knew I had to scan it.
DeleteDed Moroz for the win! The only thing I know about stamp collecting comes from the movie Brewsters Millions when he mails a priceless stamp making it worth nothing!
ReplyDeleteOoh that would hurt. Some cancellations can be brutal. Just yesterday I got some cards from a friend in England and they cancelled it with a huge pen mark over the Queen's face.
DeleteCool stamps - I don't know much about them, but they sure are fascinating.
ReplyDeleteBy the way, the number on the back of that Chad Little UD Hot Wheels card you were wondering about is M2. Hope that helps!
Thanks, it does!
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