Golden era stamp collectors and philatelists
One of my favorite stamp related books is “Filatelian taito” (roughly translated “The art of philately”) written and printed in the 1950’s. Why such old book? Besides the very obvious reason that very few stamp related books exist in Finnish language, I’m very much in love with the “feel good stories” of golden era collectors and great findings the book contains.
Some of the pioneers of philately / stamp collecting on Liechtenstein stamps issued in 1968.
Ferrari, Tapling, Faberge, Green, Luff, Caspary, etc. were all great collectors of their time. Then there are the heads of states like King George V of United Kingdom, King Farouk of Egypt or Franklin D. Roosevelt who devoted a part of their life to stamps as well… It’s simply amazing how many grand collectors there are in the history of stamp collecting and philately. And their lifes and times definitely do make an interesting read. But I also acknowledge these guys were not collecting on a budget – most of them were multimillionaires and as far as possible from average collector.
Even more pioneers of philately / stamp collecting on Liechtenstein. These were issued in 1969.
Equally amazing is how much stamp collecting in general has and has not changed. For example how many New York or Brussels stamp dealers would use pin needles (or similar) to attach sales stamps for display? LOL. And of course the popularity of worldwide collecting has varied drastically along the times… And naturally there’s the gender question. I’m more than happy to see more open approach that allows both men and women enjoy the world of stamps, but I still feel there’s a lot to do on this area before the final barriers of “this is a manly hobby and that’s how it should remain” are teared down.
Anyway – do you have any stamp related books (besides catalogues) you like reading again and again.
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“Griffin & Sabine: An Extraordinary Correspondence” by Nick Bantock consists of about four volumes. The books contain fantasy maps, stamps, postcards, envelopes and letters. It is a mystery/love story.
“Nassau Street” by Herman Herst Jr. is a compilation of short stories about stamp dealers on Nassau Street in New York City during the 1930’s and beyond.
Do you know if “Filatelian taito” was also published in English?
Hi Carol,
I doubt very heavily.
Nassau Street sounds like a very tempting reading experience
I like Herman Herst books, particularly ‘Stories to collect stamps by’ in which he writes about an old dealer names Joe Strauss. I recently bought a box of philatelic odds & ends from an estate sale. The box included an envelope from the Lexington Stamp Co. in NYC but the Lexington address is crossed out and rubber stamped : Jos Strauss 116 Nassau St. New York, NY. It was probably stamped by Strauss himself since according to Herst, Strauss worked alone. later Strauss sold his business and disappeared.