The Stamp of History

 Philosateleia

Fun fact: The first postal stamps were not able to stick to envelopes. People had to literally sew the stamps on when no paste or adhesive was available. The first ever adhesive postage stamp was called 'the Penny Black'. It had the profile of Queen Victoria against a black background and cost a penny.

Being confined to our homes have thrown up some surprising difficulties for some while presenting others with an amazing opportunity to indulge in hobbies they truly care about.

Collecting stamps was a very popular hobby in the 90's. Philately attracts people from all over the world. To many people, a stamp is merely something necessary for sending a letter, but there are many people who love buying stamps and find this hobby worthwhile. Stamp collecting is limitless and endless. Countries are always issuing stamps to celebrate important events or milestones. It is fascinating to receive letters from distant countries and to discover stamps in old books and postcards. A stamp itself is a charm which contains vast insights. It can portray a nation's political and colonial history, it's art and culture, architecture and topography, indigenous flora and fauna, famous people and incidents as well as the local currencies. To me it is a window to the outside world that is yet to be explored.

I vividly remember my first stamp. I was in the fourth grade and we had this show-and-tell event at school where we were asked to bring a stamp and speak about everything it conveys. On the day of the event I saw my classmates with the most beautiful postage stamps I ever caught sight of. That's where I acquired my newfound love for stamps. I immediately fell in love with their colours, patterns and imageries. I came back home and searched every drawer in the house for postcards and letters and my treasure started growing. 

I started my collection with just one stamp ripped off an old envelope and now I have a few hundreds of them. I felt the need to specify this detail to show that you do not need to buy stamp packets from hobby stores or from the post office to start this collection ( unless you want stamps in mint condition). You can just ask friends or relatives to save them up for you. 

It can be a tedious process to peel the stamps off the postcards or envelopes, so make sure you have the time and won't damage the stamps in a hurried effort. Make sure that you ease the stamp off the paper instead of pulling it. To begin with, use a small pair of scissors to trim the paper as close to the edge of the stamp as you possibly can. Find a shallow plate or bowl and fill it with some clean lukewarm water. Soak the stamp with the paper back in the water, stamp side up, for about ten to fifteen minutes. After that you can carefully pick up the stamp ( preferably with stamp tongs ) and try to remove it slowly from the paper. After removing the paper backing from the stamps, they need to be dried slowly and gently, so that they don't fold over and wrinkle. After they have dried, lay them flat between two layers of paper towel making sure that none of the stamps touch or overlap. The dried stamps need to be flattened. This can be done by placing them in the pages of a large or a heavy book. Now you can sort these stamps according to date of issue, colour or country and then arrange them in an album. Once you have sorted a few packets of stamps, you might have a pile of duplicates which you can trade with other stamp collectors.

Whenever I had relatives traveling to other countries, I always requested them to get me stamps. On my 15th birthday, my uncle gifted me a stamp and coin collection album. It was a thick hardboard album with transparent plastic pockets for the stamps or coins to be slid in, and the pages separated with plastic sheets. It took me days together to organize all the stamps. During my hunt for stamps, I also managed to discover some really old coins which are super intriguing and look as if they have a million stories to tell. I slid these coins along with the stamps in my album.

The lock down has given me an opportunity to get reacquainted with a hobby that was so dear to me. I discovered the extent of my collection during the quarantine. It gave me the time to open the albums and properly organize my valued possessions. As any rediscovered love, I am seeing my collection with a whole new perspective because as a child I never fully grasped the story the stamps told. While this hobby has always been a solitary pursuit for me, in these times of isolation I am finding joy in sharing my collection with a similar minded community online. What started out as an activity to keep my mind off the pandemic took on a whole new meaning. I ended up spending at least an hour each day going through my collection and reorganizing and re-labeling it.  

I hope you use this time to revisit your childhood hobbies. If you have any such kind of collections and want to get them featured or about to start a new one comment below. I have a spare stamp packet of duplicates. Contact me if you wish to trade some day ;)

Check out my stamp album walk-through video and make sure you subscribe my YouTube channel.

You can also check my flip book version 

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