Hobby Blog

Stamp-collection is a universal hobby. People collect stamps not only for what they are worth themselves but also for their designs, the stories they tell, the events they commemorate, and the sidelight they throw on the events they commemorate, production of stamps. In fact, postage stamps are “the window of a nation through which people overseas may behold its heritage and nature”. They reflect every aspect of a nation’s life including its trade, history, art, crafts and natural history.

The earliest story of stamp-collecting is of a young lady who had a strange fancy to cover her dressing- room with cancelled postage stamps. She collected 16,000 stamps herself. In 1841, she advertised in the London Times requesting readers to send her more stamps. This craze for collecting stamps was widespread in the early years when postage stamps were introduced. Gradually indiscriminate and chaotic collection was replaced by careful and systematic collection. Stamp-collecting also acquired  a respectable name called “philatelie”, which is made from a combination of Greek words ‘philos’ means ‘fond of ’ and ‘ateles’ means ‘exemption from tax’.

Stamp-collection is now far from just a hobby; it is a subject of serious study. The study of stamps leads its enthusiast’s life to the study of geography, history and the natural life of various countries. An album of stamps can therefore, be a book of knowledge as well as a book of original research.

“What to collect” and ‘How to collect’ are problems which face all beginners. Hundred years ago, it was easy for a collector to have a complete collection with all the stamps of the world. But with growing popularity of stamp-collection, countries found stamps a good medium for publicizing their cultural, industrial, landscape, geography and achievements in various other fields. There is hardly any subject or theme which has not been depicted on stamps. Some of the popular themes are animals, arts, birds, butterflies, communications, fishes, famous men and women, flowers, medicine, paintings, postal history, railways, religion, scouts, space, sports, ships, etc. It is impossible today to have a reasonable collection of stamps from all over the world.