What we collect!

 

Stamporama Discussion Board Logo
For People Who Love To Talk About Stamps
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Stamporama Discussion Board Logo
For People Who Love To Talk About Stamps
Discussion - Member to Member Sales - Research Center
Stamporama Discussion Board Logo
For People Who Love To Talk About Stamps



What we collect!
What we collect!


General Philatelic/Gen. Discussion : Youngsters Collecting ?

 

Author
Postings
sleepy

17 Feb 2018
01:48:00pm
I've heard that there's no interest in philately at all among the new generation. When I go to the library I see kids playing computer games but nothing else on their monitor.
Do any of your kids, grandkids or nephews/nieces collect stamps, or is our hobby dead ?
Like
Login to Like
this post
amsd
Members Picture


Editor, Seal News; contributor, JuicyHeads

17 Feb 2018
04:58:03pm

Auctions
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

my local club had an 8 year old come in with her gramma. She had bits and pieces of others' old collections. Notably, she had some fantastic seal and Cinderella material; she maintained interest for about 15 minutes, which i think is good. I hope she returns. we'll see

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"

juicyheads.com/link.php?PLJZJP
AntoniusRa
Members Picture


The truth is within and only you can reveal it

17 Feb 2018
05:12:40pm
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Sadly that does seem to be the case. However, just last night I got an email from a kid who wanted to thank me for putting up my website and that he found it very helpful and had not stopped looking at it since he discovered it. He said he had been collecting for a year and really loved it. Of course I offered to help him in any way I could including sending him stamps.
So maybe there is some hope after all ?!?

Like 
5 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

mitch.seymourfamily.com/mward/collection/mapindex.html
sleepy

18 Feb 2018
12:34:50pm
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

I've been wondering what to do with my dupes. Now, if someone provides me with the address of a kid starting out, I'll mail him some.

Like
Login to Like
this post
Bobstamp
Members Picture


18 Feb 2018
07:58:28pm
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

In the absence of enthusiastic, regular adult support, I don't think there's much that will induce kids (youngsters, youth, adolescents, teens) to become collectors.

Before I quit teaching to become a photographer, in 1985, I'd sponsored successful stamp clubs in three schools, including my last school, Prince George Secondary School in Prince George, BC. I always made sure I had stamps available for purchase at reasonable prices, with profit going into more stamps for the students. We met weekly, and I scheduled presentations by collectors from the now-defunct Fort George Philatelic Society. The stamp club members weren't your "typical" students. They weren't members of the chess club, or sports teams, or student council.

A former Stamporama member (I can't recall her name) sponsored a stamp club in her school in Merrit, BC. Most of her students were native children, and almost all of the students in the school were in the club. Their stamp collections were in a real sense the only things they owned; many of their parents were alcoholics who would sell their children's stamp collections if they had the opportunity, so the teacher kept the collections at school. When she had to quit teaching because of poor health, the club failed even though another teacher, who wasn't a collector, volunteered to take over.

I was president of the BC Philatelic Society for several years. We had only two young collectors in all that time; one stayed with it for two or three years, but the other one quit after a year. I recall seeing only a dozen or so children at our annual stamp show, VANPEX. About eight of them were from India; their sponsor brought them on the Indian government's dime, but ignored them. They weren't allowed to do anything but sit in chairs on the sidelines, even though each of them had entered an exhibit.

A very successful youth stamp club in Edmonton failed less than a year after the sponsor died of liver cancer. Two of its members had exhibited at VANPEX, but we never saw them again after the sponsor's death.

A member of our club, a high school teacher, started a club in his school. The members enthusiastically bought stamps at the first meeting, and then quit after the second meeting when they discovered that they couldn't sell their stamps at a profit.

My own son didn't "take" to collecting like I hoped he would. He has since told me that he didn't see how he could possibly compete with me, by which he meant that I overwhelmed him with information. At least he understands the attractions of stamp and postal history collecting!

Bob

Like 
6 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

www.ephemeraltreasures.net
david13617
Members Picture


23 Feb 2018
11:07:27am
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

One of the members of our local stamp club has been actively involved with starting kids out with stamp collecting and has an enthusiastic group in Hawaii. His organization is Stamp Collecting Clubs for Kids. They welcome all donations of stamps, covers, and philatelic supplies. The contact information is:
Robert W. Martin
Stamp Collecting Clubs for Kids
P O Box 1809
Kihei, HI 96753-1809
cell 408-893-1040

They also accept $ donations at their website:
http://www.stampcollectingclubsforkids.org/index.html

Please feel free to check it out. Our club and I have made stamp donations to his group.

On a personal level I have given stamps and supplies to a couple of 6-7 year old relatives and have explained some of the hobby to them. I don't know if anything will stick with them about philately in today's environment, but who knows, maybe some day in the future they'll remember stamps and rekindle their interest.

David

Like
Login to Like
this post
HungaryForStamps
Members Picture


23 Feb 2018
05:34:06pm
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

I second what Chris (Anglophile) says, I have two (now) teenage children that expressed some interest in stamp collecting several years ago. My kids won't consider stamp collecting at all for at least a decade. Hopefully they will pick it up when I kick the bucket.

There are many activities that have more immediate rewards for children (school, sports, other activities leading towards college admission/career etc.). Then there are the leisure activities, that mostly fall into social activities with friends, practical hobbies like music that may lead to college/career advancement, and video games. People are quick to dismiss video gaming as a waste of time, but I have my doubts.

Video games are a huge attraction for my children, obviously. I try to be open minded about it because video games have some beneficial effects, but I still think they are largely a waste of time (like any skill/sport activity if the goal is leisure or even to be the local champion). I myself spend way too much time playing videos games. For example, one huge time drain in our house is FIFA 18 soccer (the video game) counterbalanced with real soccer (both kids are on local soccer teams). FIFA 18 is now a nationally competitive game (and video games will gain more importance on par with sports) but also includes trading/team management skills that have some benefits.

Anyway, kids need to be exposed to as many activities as their parents can afford in time and money, including stamp collecting. Some will drift back to those activities as they get older and others will not.

Like 
4 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
cdj1122
Members Picture


Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..

26 Feb 2018
07:03:15pm
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

" ... Stamp collecting, ....... is not perceived to advance goals such as entering a good school (at whatever level), vocation or profession, so it gets drowned out by violin lessons, soccer, debate, drama club or whatever. ... "

Fifty years ago, "Stamp Collecting" was a very important entry on a college entrance application as it was thought to indicate someone serious, .... and probably studious, having a better than average awareness of Geography, World Affairs, and History..

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
Guthrum
Members Picture


27 Feb 2018
04:16:01am
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

And even twenty years ago I would encourage children to put stamp collecting on their applications to public schools ( = US 'private schools'), for the same reasons as cdj cites above. However, I'm not sure I would do so today - the people judging the candidates' suitability are (I'm guessing) no longer of the generation that sets much store by 'geography, world affairs, and history'. (Maths, science, technology, yes - other stuff, not so much.)

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
slscm

27 Feb 2018
02:37:07pm
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Anglophile, I believe stamp collection can be achievement oriented -- I know it is for me as I am a very competitive person. Trying to complete an album or even certain pages from an album is an achievement. When it comes to topicals, kids could strive for collection 500 butterfly stamps, 200 ships, etc. Of course, this is only part of the fun of collecting stamps. I remembering learning so much about geography, monetary systems, foreign leaders and so much else when I collected as a kid. I'm hoping there are still kids out there who will find stamps interesting. -Stacy

Like
Login to Like
this post
sleepy

03 Mar 2018
09:10:33am
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

I've read all the responses, but I believe that two, very important issues haven't been addressed.
When I started collecting (at the age of 8) my interest was peaked by my ability to soak stamps off of correspondence, thus obtaining them easily and
free of charge. This is an important consideration for a kid at that age.
Today, stamps can't be obtained for two reasons :
1. They can't be soaked off but must be removed chemically...very hard for a kid. and
2. There's almost no correspondence available bearing stamps. Letters from companies have printed mail permits and letters from people have been supplanted by email.
The hobby is dying because stamps are dying.

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
BenFranklin1902
Members Picture


Tom in Exton, PA

03 Mar 2018
09:35:58am
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

A good point Leon!

I got interested in stamps as a youngster because of stamps on our mail. I was reading a book about Johnny Appleseed and my father showed me a bunch of them on a package we had received. I was very intrigued by the "official" status of a stamp. Yes, it was the happenstance of that stamp arriving on mail. And as you pointed out, it doesn't happen today.

Later my father brought home a stamp from South Africa from his office mail, and I was excited to hold something in my hand that was actually from Africa! That was a far away and exotic place.

In that pre-electronic era we were impressed with the little bits of paper. We were not as sophisticated as people are today. Any 6 year old can bring up video after video of anywhere in the world on their iPhone. The world is connected and much smaller today. There is no strange allure of distant places today. Anything is just a few clicks away. People are no longer impressed with little bits of paper. Thus, stamp collecting is no longer relevant to the common person.





Like
Login to Like
this post

"Check out my eBay Stuff! Username Turtles-Trading-Post"
51Studebaker
Members Picture


Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't

03 Mar 2018
10:12:07am
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

"...The hobby is dying because stamps are dying."



The hobby is not dying and I wish the folks would stop spreading this misinformation. The hobby has changed. At best, people can say that we do not know if the hobby is healthy or not.

The internet has forever changed our lives and the in the way that people interface with their hobbies. All the traditional methods of measuring the health of a hobby have been changed. Declines in paid hobby memberships can easily be explained by the increase in online participation (which often has zero cost). Declines in prices can easily be explained by the tectonic shift in availability that online auction venues have unleased. The decline in hobby show attendance can also be traced back to less costly ways to interface with a hobby online.

And the new online segments of our hobby are thriving. Never before has our hobby had so much material made available for purchase; 24/7 we can buy until our pockets are empty. The selection of stamps and covers for sale online is overwhelming.
Over on the SCF forum we average 10-12 new members per day; at any given time there are between 50-120 members online. And that is only one of many online philatelic communities. Stamp Smarter has doubled in size every year since it was started in 2013. This community has grown and thrived.

I support anyone who says, ‘gee, it is hard to understand if our hobby is healthy or not’ or ‘gosh, the hobby sure has changed’. But if someone is going to make the case that our hobby is dying then they are going to have to explain the explosion in growth for our hobby online.

Regarding the point about 'stamps' going away. Automobiles became commonplace 1915 but folks still owned and rode horses. By 1925 trains moved people more efficiently and still people owned and rode horses. By the 1960s air travel was whisking people around the earth and still, folks enjoy horse-riding.

Digital imaging hasn't killed off photography, but it sure has changed it. Stamps have been, and will always be, a part of our history and heritage. It is changing, but it is not dying.
Don
Like 
6 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

"Current Score... Don 1 - Cancer 0"

stampsmarter.org
sheepshanks
Members Picture


03 Mar 2018
11:56:18am
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Don, I agree with you completely and would go as far as to say that when our pockets are empty there are always those credit cards. What did we do in the days of "hire purchase", I remember saving up for the deposit for my first pedal cycle and doing a paper round to pay the weekly dues.
Mind you perhaps I should start a digital album where I just collect the images off the internet, got to be a lot cheaper. Not even an album to buy.


Like
Login to Like
this post
sleepy

04 Mar 2018
12:17:00pm
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Well, stamps are no longer on the envelopes I get in my mailbox daily. And when a rare one appears, its a coil used by a small business. Nothing new anymore.
A few weeks ago I celebrated my 78th birthday and got some birthday cards - BY EMAIL.
Snail mail is now very rarely used, and texting has replaced email.

Like
Login to Like
this post
51Studebaker
Members Picture


Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't

04 Mar 2018
01:43:07pm
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

"...Snail mail is now very rarely used, and texting has replaced email."



sleepy,
I agree. I think this is all a part of the evolution of our hobby; since the beginning of time humans have had a need to communicate to with one another over distances. The very first postal systems consisted of a series of messengers on foot. Quickly this expanded to messengers on horseback.

As I am sure you know, in the mid-1800s stamps became the accounting for prepayment for many postal systems. As time passed, postal systems became more universal under the UPC. Rural delivery expanded services used technology with the advent of motorized vehicles. Technology was further integrated into postal systems with advent of railroads and airmail. More and more technology appeared in the form of mechanized sorting and scanning equipment. And now the next generation postal system, called the internet, enables humans to communicate more efficiently.

There will always be a soft spot in my heart for ‘old ways’. Nothing is better than my wife and I loading up the Studebaker and going out on the Blue Ridge Parkway or otherwise making an afternoon of it. The huge interior space in the car, the sound of the old 8 tube AM radio powering up and the rich sound produces, and answering the endless questions from young people who had never seen a bulletnose car all add up to a great day.

And I will always enjoy the look of a nice stocked library, full of old books, and the enjoyment of a book in my lap next to a warm fire. But I also love the Alexa in kitchen, my laptop, the internet, and my MP3 music. I hope folks find a way embrace both worlds; both have a lot to offer.

Next time a young kid mentions being online, ask them if they know the history of the postal system.
Don

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Current Score... Don 1 - Cancer 0"

stampsmarter.org
BenFranklin1902
Members Picture


Tom in Exton, PA

04 Mar 2018
08:51:34pm
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Image Not Found

Since we were talking about this today. This is right out of the latest NJ Postal History Society's newsletter.

And as had been said before, Chicken Little is sadly mistaken. I see a lot of fantastic big money old line collections coming to auction as the old guard dies off. The good news is that new money is buying these up at record prices.

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Check out my eBay Stuff! Username Turtles-Trading-Post"
angore
Members Picture


Al
Collector, Moderator

05 Mar 2018
06:46:51am
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

They are holding the tools they want to use for collecting...the phone.

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

"Stamp Collecting is a many splendored thing"
cdj1122
Members Picture


Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..

05 Mar 2018
03:22:54pm
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

" .... And now the next generation postal system,
called the internet, enables humans to communicate
more efficiently. ...."




A couple of weeks ago, I received a get well card
from a cousin with whom I have coreresponded
since we were, at most, twelve years old.
At the time our families lived just out of
"kids on bike's range."
We were often together at family gatherings but still
a week or so after a holiday I would receive a note
telling of some mini adventure during or since.
During the teen years her family moved away from Queens, NYC,
across the Hudson River into a rural area of northwestern,
New Jersey and mine, from Brooklyn, NYC, east
toward the tips of Long Island
so the letters often became a bit more lengthly.
Occasionally we chatted on the phone but still
it was a relief when during college and military service
letters were exchanged and we could speak to one another,
someone who we both trusted implicitely.
The correspondance by mail or phone continued when
she and her husband settled in California
raising three children while I sailed
hither and yon around the world on cargo ships .
There was almost always one of those sailor postcards
mentioned in the Samoa discussion, from each port
and probably a letter full of thoughts and observations
from most ports, constructed and usually re-written,
during off-watch hours at sea, as well as one from her if,
(a big if) the mail ever caught up with the ship's journey.
This was a constant habit although sometimes the time span
became several months as the six children my wife and I
raised took up more time.
But this card, was through a site called Blue Mountain.
This is the first real concession to the internet
beyond using a PC to type things out and print the letters
in a script font.
I have almost three plastic shoeboxes stuffed with mail
I received mostly from her and a few other contemporaneous letters
from others. I am sure she has a similar horde.
Perhaps one or our children or grand children will sit down
some time and co-ordinate them by date, writing a book
à la Seinfeld, about nothing, yet interesting enough
to gather dust in an on-line library somewhere.
But the point is that, mail between some of my cousins and me were
fairly frequent when we were young and have all shifted
over the years, first to a post card or a phone call,
and now to text messages in deteriorating grammar,
and sometimes puzzling acronyms, contractions and
abbreviations, interspersed with wriggling smiley faces.
Most of the envelopes are intact, stamps and CDCs readable
and mine unedited.
Or there will be a brightly burning fireplace
one cold winter night.

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
Nikhil

27 Apr 2018
04:50:23am
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

I am a 15 year old boy from India. I don't get any pocket money, its very difficult for me to collect. I collect world wide stamps. None of my friends are interested in stamps

Like
Login to Like
this post
Snick1946
Members Picture


APS Life Member

27 Apr 2018
09:43:11am
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Nikhil, welcome!

One theory I have is that the less young people are exposed to seeing stamps used on everyday mail, the less interest in collecting them. I think it's no coincidence that in those parts of the world where stamps are more often used, such as China, there is still a good level of youth interest.

Do you see many stamps on your mail in India?

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
ikeyPikey
Members Picture


27 Apr 2018
09:39:50pm
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Q/ Who among us was immune to the pure magic of stamped mail showing-up at your home every day?

Q/ "What would happen to baseball card collecting if they stopped playing baseball?"

Q/ "What will happen to coin collecting when all payments transition to digital?"

One problem we face is that the satisfaction of completion (of a set, a page, or an album) has been reduced to a couple of clicks; the hunt ain't what it used to be when you are hunting inside of a grocery store.

I've got a places-to-donate-stamps document that is available as a PDF; just PM me.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Like
Login to Like
this post

"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
cdj1122
Members Picture


Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..

28 Apr 2018
09:07:58pm
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

" ... Q/ "What would happen to baseball card collecting
if they stopped playing baseball?" ..."


Do people still collect baseball cards ?
I remember when there were boxes on display
in Walmart and Target, but recently looking for
the 2017 year set for my son in several stores
bought up nothing,

Like
Login to Like
this post

".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
BenFranklin1902
Members Picture


Tom in Exton, PA

28 Apr 2018
09:47:05pm
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

"Do people still collect baseball cards ?"



I think a lot of the speculative collectible markets have collapsed. The sports cards, NASCAR diecast cars, Beanie Babies.. you name it. In the old days the Toledo Toy Fair was three full airplane hanger buildings full of dealers with all that stuff. Dealers who couldn't get in held a secret swap meet in a nearby parking lot at 5am. That was rather interesting. Very well attended in the dark with people shopping by flash light!

That died overnight. It was like they shut off a switch! A year or two after the frenzy, they had one of those three halls half full. People just stopped coming. And the prices of those speculative collectibles fell through the floor.

My club holds our annual model car show at a PAL hall. The cops who run it complimented us at how well behaved our attendees were. They told me that they feared card shows because the attendees were breaking into each others cars in the parking lot!



Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"Check out my eBay Stuff! Username Turtles-Trading-Post"
angore
Members Picture


Al
Collector, Moderator

29 Apr 2018
06:19:22am
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

I have seen some kind of cards (thought baseball) at a Walmart. Like stamps, many can be found online.

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Stamp Collecting is a many splendored thing"
Nikhil

02 May 2018
03:22:27am
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

I don't receive any letters much. Maybe 10 letters per year. That's it.


Like
Login to Like
this post
Bujutsu
Members Picture


02 May 2018
11:13:14am
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

There is another way of looking at this situation. Let's say that coins are no longer used in transactions, stamps are no longer used on mail and baseball did stop. Please note, this is a hypothetical look on it from my point.

I will use a question to try to convey my point, so please excuse any mistakes on my part

Would baseball and all other sports cards would continue to be collected? Because I do not collected sports cards and only dabbled in coins, I'll stick with the stamps picture only. If stamps ceased to be printed, I still believe that the hobby will continue. My point is this - - we lost a lot of potential collectors because too many countries issue too many stamps and collectors could not keep up with them. If stamps were to be ceased being printed, then we could at least center our interests in specific areas. We still could never collect all that has been issued, but at least we could pick a goal, with some countries anyway.

I know I'm not putting myself across entirely simply because I am not really sure how to word it. However, the stamp catalogues would have a beginning and an end with lists. That would make it easier for collectors to pick a particular area too. We could confine ourselves to an area that we each feel that we can handle.

I hope I explained myself clear enough?

Anyway, happy collecting.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
ikeyPikey
Members Picture


03 May 2018
12:13:57am
re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Bujutsu is correct: if we ever saw the end of postage stamps, we would at least enter the Age of Completion.

But I am not sure that this would matter very much.

We can already set well-defined boundaries of collections that can be completed, either geopolitically (colonies until independence, satellites until the breakup of the FSU, etc) as well as temporal markers (until this or that war).

There would still be stamps out of reach for financial reasons, and there would still be doctrinal arguments about whether/not this/that color/paper/etc variety is really a different stamp ... both of which make for fuzzy definitions of 'complete'.

Lastly, there would (presumably) still be new meter varieties, CVP, slogan cancels, etc, to keep the philatelic universe expanding.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
        

 

Author/Postings
sleepy

17 Feb 2018
01:48:00pm

I've heard that there's no interest in philately at all among the new generation. When I go to the library I see kids playing computer games but nothing else on their monitor.
Do any of your kids, grandkids or nephews/nieces collect stamps, or is our hobby dead ?

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
amsd

Editor, Seal News; contributor, JuicyHeads
17 Feb 2018
04:58:03pm

Auctions

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

my local club had an 8 year old come in with her gramma. She had bits and pieces of others' old collections. Notably, she had some fantastic seal and Cinderella material; she maintained interest for about 15 minutes, which i think is good. I hope she returns. we'll see

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"Save the USPS, buy stamps; save the hobby, use commemoratives"

juicyheads.com/link. ...
Members Picture
AntoniusRa

The truth is within and only you can reveal it
17 Feb 2018
05:12:40pm

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Sadly that does seem to be the case. However, just last night I got an email from a kid who wanted to thank me for putting up my website and that he found it very helpful and had not stopped looking at it since he discovered it. He said he had been collecting for a year and really loved it. Of course I offered to help him in any way I could including sending him stamps.
So maybe there is some hope after all ?!?

Like 
5 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

mitch.seymourfamily. ...
sleepy

18 Feb 2018
12:34:50pm

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

I've been wondering what to do with my dupes. Now, if someone provides me with the address of a kid starting out, I'll mail him some.

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
Bobstamp

18 Feb 2018
07:58:28pm

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

In the absence of enthusiastic, regular adult support, I don't think there's much that will induce kids (youngsters, youth, adolescents, teens) to become collectors.

Before I quit teaching to become a photographer, in 1985, I'd sponsored successful stamp clubs in three schools, including my last school, Prince George Secondary School in Prince George, BC. I always made sure I had stamps available for purchase at reasonable prices, with profit going into more stamps for the students. We met weekly, and I scheduled presentations by collectors from the now-defunct Fort George Philatelic Society. The stamp club members weren't your "typical" students. They weren't members of the chess club, or sports teams, or student council.

A former Stamporama member (I can't recall her name) sponsored a stamp club in her school in Merrit, BC. Most of her students were native children, and almost all of the students in the school were in the club. Their stamp collections were in a real sense the only things they owned; many of their parents were alcoholics who would sell their children's stamp collections if they had the opportunity, so the teacher kept the collections at school. When she had to quit teaching because of poor health, the club failed even though another teacher, who wasn't a collector, volunteered to take over.

I was president of the BC Philatelic Society for several years. We had only two young collectors in all that time; one stayed with it for two or three years, but the other one quit after a year. I recall seeing only a dozen or so children at our annual stamp show, VANPEX. About eight of them were from India; their sponsor brought them on the Indian government's dime, but ignored them. They weren't allowed to do anything but sit in chairs on the sidelines, even though each of them had entered an exhibit.

A very successful youth stamp club in Edmonton failed less than a year after the sponsor died of liver cancer. Two of its members had exhibited at VANPEX, but we never saw them again after the sponsor's death.

A member of our club, a high school teacher, started a club in his school. The members enthusiastically bought stamps at the first meeting, and then quit after the second meeting when they discovered that they couldn't sell their stamps at a profit.

My own son didn't "take" to collecting like I hoped he would. He has since told me that he didn't see how he could possibly compete with me, by which he meant that I overwhelmed him with information. At least he understands the attractions of stamp and postal history collecting!

Bob

Like 
6 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

www.ephemeraltreasur ...
Members Picture
david13617

23 Feb 2018
11:07:27am

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

One of the members of our local stamp club has been actively involved with starting kids out with stamp collecting and has an enthusiastic group in Hawaii. His organization is Stamp Collecting Clubs for Kids. They welcome all donations of stamps, covers, and philatelic supplies. The contact information is:
Robert W. Martin
Stamp Collecting Clubs for Kids
P O Box 1809
Kihei, HI 96753-1809
cell 408-893-1040

They also accept $ donations at their website:
http://www.stampcollectingclubsforkids.org/index.html

Please feel free to check it out. Our club and I have made stamp donations to his group.

On a personal level I have given stamps and supplies to a couple of 6-7 year old relatives and have explained some of the hobby to them. I don't know if anything will stick with them about philately in today's environment, but who knows, maybe some day in the future they'll remember stamps and rekindle their interest.

David

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
HungaryForStamps

23 Feb 2018
05:34:06pm

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

I second what Chris (Anglophile) says, I have two (now) teenage children that expressed some interest in stamp collecting several years ago. My kids won't consider stamp collecting at all for at least a decade. Hopefully they will pick it up when I kick the bucket.

There are many activities that have more immediate rewards for children (school, sports, other activities leading towards college admission/career etc.). Then there are the leisure activities, that mostly fall into social activities with friends, practical hobbies like music that may lead to college/career advancement, and video games. People are quick to dismiss video gaming as a waste of time, but I have my doubts.

Video games are a huge attraction for my children, obviously. I try to be open minded about it because video games have some beneficial effects, but I still think they are largely a waste of time (like any skill/sport activity if the goal is leisure or even to be the local champion). I myself spend way too much time playing videos games. For example, one huge time drain in our house is FIFA 18 soccer (the video game) counterbalanced with real soccer (both kids are on local soccer teams). FIFA 18 is now a nationally competitive game (and video games will gain more importance on par with sports) but also includes trading/team management skills that have some benefits.

Anyway, kids need to be exposed to as many activities as their parents can afford in time and money, including stamp collecting. Some will drift back to those activities as they get older and others will not.

Like 
4 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
26 Feb 2018
07:03:15pm

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

" ... Stamp collecting, ....... is not perceived to advance goals such as entering a good school (at whatever level), vocation or profession, so it gets drowned out by violin lessons, soccer, debate, drama club or whatever. ... "

Fifty years ago, "Stamp Collecting" was a very important entry on a college entrance application as it was thought to indicate someone serious, .... and probably studious, having a better than average awareness of Geography, World Affairs, and History..

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
Members Picture
Guthrum

27 Feb 2018
04:16:01am

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

And even twenty years ago I would encourage children to put stamp collecting on their applications to public schools ( = US 'private schools'), for the same reasons as cdj cites above. However, I'm not sure I would do so today - the people judging the candidates' suitability are (I'm guessing) no longer of the generation that sets much store by 'geography, world affairs, and history'. (Maths, science, technology, yes - other stuff, not so much.)

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
slscm

27 Feb 2018
02:37:07pm

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Anglophile, I believe stamp collection can be achievement oriented -- I know it is for me as I am a very competitive person. Trying to complete an album or even certain pages from an album is an achievement. When it comes to topicals, kids could strive for collection 500 butterfly stamps, 200 ships, etc. Of course, this is only part of the fun of collecting stamps. I remembering learning so much about geography, monetary systems, foreign leaders and so much else when I collected as a kid. I'm hoping there are still kids out there who will find stamps interesting. -Stacy

Like
Login to Like
this post
sleepy

03 Mar 2018
09:10:33am

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

I've read all the responses, but I believe that two, very important issues haven't been addressed.
When I started collecting (at the age of 8) my interest was peaked by my ability to soak stamps off of correspondence, thus obtaining them easily and
free of charge. This is an important consideration for a kid at that age.
Today, stamps can't be obtained for two reasons :
1. They can't be soaked off but must be removed chemically...very hard for a kid. and
2. There's almost no correspondence available bearing stamps. Letters from companies have printed mail permits and letters from people have been supplanted by email.
The hobby is dying because stamps are dying.

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.
Members Picture
BenFranklin1902

Tom in Exton, PA
03 Mar 2018
09:35:58am

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

A good point Leon!

I got interested in stamps as a youngster because of stamps on our mail. I was reading a book about Johnny Appleseed and my father showed me a bunch of them on a package we had received. I was very intrigued by the "official" status of a stamp. Yes, it was the happenstance of that stamp arriving on mail. And as you pointed out, it doesn't happen today.

Later my father brought home a stamp from South Africa from his office mail, and I was excited to hold something in my hand that was actually from Africa! That was a far away and exotic place.

In that pre-electronic era we were impressed with the little bits of paper. We were not as sophisticated as people are today. Any 6 year old can bring up video after video of anywhere in the world on their iPhone. The world is connected and much smaller today. There is no strange allure of distant places today. Anything is just a few clicks away. People are no longer impressed with little bits of paper. Thus, stamp collecting is no longer relevant to the common person.





Like
Login to Like
this post

"Check out my eBay Stuff! Username Turtles-Trading-Post"
Members Picture
51Studebaker

Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't
03 Mar 2018
10:12:07am

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

"...The hobby is dying because stamps are dying."



The hobby is not dying and I wish the folks would stop spreading this misinformation. The hobby has changed. At best, people can say that we do not know if the hobby is healthy or not.

The internet has forever changed our lives and the in the way that people interface with their hobbies. All the traditional methods of measuring the health of a hobby have been changed. Declines in paid hobby memberships can easily be explained by the increase in online participation (which often has zero cost). Declines in prices can easily be explained by the tectonic shift in availability that online auction venues have unleased. The decline in hobby show attendance can also be traced back to less costly ways to interface with a hobby online.

And the new online segments of our hobby are thriving. Never before has our hobby had so much material made available for purchase; 24/7 we can buy until our pockets are empty. The selection of stamps and covers for sale online is overwhelming.
Over on the SCF forum we average 10-12 new members per day; at any given time there are between 50-120 members online. And that is only one of many online philatelic communities. Stamp Smarter has doubled in size every year since it was started in 2013. This community has grown and thrived.

I support anyone who says, ‘gee, it is hard to understand if our hobby is healthy or not’ or ‘gosh, the hobby sure has changed’. But if someone is going to make the case that our hobby is dying then they are going to have to explain the explosion in growth for our hobby online.

Regarding the point about 'stamps' going away. Automobiles became commonplace 1915 but folks still owned and rode horses. By 1925 trains moved people more efficiently and still people owned and rode horses. By the 1960s air travel was whisking people around the earth and still, folks enjoy horse-riding.

Digital imaging hasn't killed off photography, but it sure has changed it. Stamps have been, and will always be, a part of our history and heritage. It is changing, but it is not dying.
Don
Like 
6 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

"Current Score... Don 1 - Cancer 0"

stampsmarter.org
Members Picture
sheepshanks

03 Mar 2018
11:56:18am

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Don, I agree with you completely and would go as far as to say that when our pockets are empty there are always those credit cards. What did we do in the days of "hire purchase", I remember saving up for the deposit for my first pedal cycle and doing a paper round to pay the weekly dues.
Mind you perhaps I should start a digital album where I just collect the images off the internet, got to be a lot cheaper. Not even an album to buy.


Like
Login to Like
this post
sleepy

04 Mar 2018
12:17:00pm

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Well, stamps are no longer on the envelopes I get in my mailbox daily. And when a rare one appears, its a coil used by a small business. Nothing new anymore.
A few weeks ago I celebrated my 78th birthday and got some birthday cards - BY EMAIL.
Snail mail is now very rarely used, and texting has replaced email.

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
51Studebaker

Dialysis, damned if you do...dead if you don't
04 Mar 2018
01:43:07pm

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

"...Snail mail is now very rarely used, and texting has replaced email."



sleepy,
I agree. I think this is all a part of the evolution of our hobby; since the beginning of time humans have had a need to communicate to with one another over distances. The very first postal systems consisted of a series of messengers on foot. Quickly this expanded to messengers on horseback.

As I am sure you know, in the mid-1800s stamps became the accounting for prepayment for many postal systems. As time passed, postal systems became more universal under the UPC. Rural delivery expanded services used technology with the advent of motorized vehicles. Technology was further integrated into postal systems with advent of railroads and airmail. More and more technology appeared in the form of mechanized sorting and scanning equipment. And now the next generation postal system, called the internet, enables humans to communicate more efficiently.

There will always be a soft spot in my heart for ‘old ways’. Nothing is better than my wife and I loading up the Studebaker and going out on the Blue Ridge Parkway or otherwise making an afternoon of it. The huge interior space in the car, the sound of the old 8 tube AM radio powering up and the rich sound produces, and answering the endless questions from young people who had never seen a bulletnose car all add up to a great day.

And I will always enjoy the look of a nice stocked library, full of old books, and the enjoyment of a book in my lap next to a warm fire. But I also love the Alexa in kitchen, my laptop, the internet, and my MP3 music. I hope folks find a way embrace both worlds; both have a lot to offer.

Next time a young kid mentions being online, ask them if they know the history of the postal system.
Don

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Current Score... Don 1 - Cancer 0"

stampsmarter.org
Members Picture
BenFranklin1902

Tom in Exton, PA
04 Mar 2018
08:51:34pm

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Image Not Found

Since we were talking about this today. This is right out of the latest NJ Postal History Society's newsletter.

And as had been said before, Chicken Little is sadly mistaken. I see a lot of fantastic big money old line collections coming to auction as the old guard dies off. The good news is that new money is buying these up at record prices.

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Check out my eBay Stuff! Username Turtles-Trading-Post"
Members Picture
angore

Al
Collector, Moderator
05 Mar 2018
06:46:51am

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

They are holding the tools they want to use for collecting...the phone.

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

"Stamp Collecting is a many splendored thing"

Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
05 Mar 2018
03:22:54pm

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

" .... And now the next generation postal system,
called the internet, enables humans to communicate
more efficiently. ...."




A couple of weeks ago, I received a get well card
from a cousin with whom I have coreresponded
since we were, at most, twelve years old.
At the time our families lived just out of
"kids on bike's range."
We were often together at family gatherings but still
a week or so after a holiday I would receive a note
telling of some mini adventure during or since.
During the teen years her family moved away from Queens, NYC,
across the Hudson River into a rural area of northwestern,
New Jersey and mine, from Brooklyn, NYC, east
toward the tips of Long Island
so the letters often became a bit more lengthly.
Occasionally we chatted on the phone but still
it was a relief when during college and military service
letters were exchanged and we could speak to one another,
someone who we both trusted implicitely.
The correspondance by mail or phone continued when
she and her husband settled in California
raising three children while I sailed
hither and yon around the world on cargo ships .
There was almost always one of those sailor postcards
mentioned in the Samoa discussion, from each port
and probably a letter full of thoughts and observations
from most ports, constructed and usually re-written,
during off-watch hours at sea, as well as one from her if,
(a big if) the mail ever caught up with the ship's journey.
This was a constant habit although sometimes the time span
became several months as the six children my wife and I
raised took up more time.
But this card, was through a site called Blue Mountain.
This is the first real concession to the internet
beyond using a PC to type things out and print the letters
in a script font.
I have almost three plastic shoeboxes stuffed with mail
I received mostly from her and a few other contemporaneous letters
from others. I am sure she has a similar horde.
Perhaps one or our children or grand children will sit down
some time and co-ordinate them by date, writing a book
à la Seinfeld, about nothing, yet interesting enough
to gather dust in an on-line library somewhere.
But the point is that, mail between some of my cousins and me were
fairly frequent when we were young and have all shifted
over the years, first to a post card or a phone call,
and now to text messages in deteriorating grammar,
and sometimes puzzling acronyms, contractions and
abbreviations, interspersed with wriggling smiley faces.
Most of the envelopes are intact, stamps and CDCs readable
and mine unedited.
Or there will be a brightly burning fireplace
one cold winter night.

Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
Nikhil

27 Apr 2018
04:50:23am

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

I am a 15 year old boy from India. I don't get any pocket money, its very difficult for me to collect. I collect world wide stamps. None of my friends are interested in stamps

Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
Snick1946

APS Life Member
27 Apr 2018
09:43:11am

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Nikhil, welcome!

One theory I have is that the less young people are exposed to seeing stamps used on everyday mail, the less interest in collecting them. I think it's no coincidence that in those parts of the world where stamps are more often used, such as China, there is still a good level of youth interest.

Do you see many stamps on your mail in India?

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Members Picture
ikeyPikey

27 Apr 2018
09:39:50pm

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Q/ Who among us was immune to the pure magic of stamped mail showing-up at your home every day?

Q/ "What would happen to baseball card collecting if they stopped playing baseball?"

Q/ "What will happen to coin collecting when all payments transition to digital?"

One problem we face is that the satisfaction of completion (of a set, a page, or an album) has been reduced to a couple of clicks; the hunt ain't what it used to be when you are hunting inside of a grocery store.

I've got a places-to-donate-stamps document that is available as a PDF; just PM me.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Like
Login to Like
this post

"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."

Silence in the face of adversity is the father of complicity and collusion, the first cousins of conspiracy..
28 Apr 2018
09:07:58pm

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

" ... Q/ "What would happen to baseball card collecting
if they stopped playing baseball?" ..."


Do people still collect baseball cards ?
I remember when there were boxes on display
in Walmart and Target, but recently looking for
the 2017 year set for my son in several stores
bought up nothing,

Like
Login to Like
this post

".... You may think you understood what you thought I said, but I'm not sure you realize that what you think you heard is not what I thought I meant. .... "
Members Picture
BenFranklin1902

Tom in Exton, PA
28 Apr 2018
09:47:05pm

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

"Do people still collect baseball cards ?"



I think a lot of the speculative collectible markets have collapsed. The sports cards, NASCAR diecast cars, Beanie Babies.. you name it. In the old days the Toledo Toy Fair was three full airplane hanger buildings full of dealers with all that stuff. Dealers who couldn't get in held a secret swap meet in a nearby parking lot at 5am. That was rather interesting. Very well attended in the dark with people shopping by flash light!

That died overnight. It was like they shut off a switch! A year or two after the frenzy, they had one of those three halls half full. People just stopped coming. And the prices of those speculative collectibles fell through the floor.

My club holds our annual model car show at a PAL hall. The cops who run it complimented us at how well behaved our attendees were. They told me that they feared card shows because the attendees were breaking into each others cars in the parking lot!



Like 
1 Member
likes this post.
Login to Like.

"Check out my eBay Stuff! Username Turtles-Trading-Post"
Members Picture
angore

Al
Collector, Moderator
29 Apr 2018
06:19:22am

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

I have seen some kind of cards (thought baseball) at a Walmart. Like stamps, many can be found online.

Like
Login to Like
this post

"Stamp Collecting is a many splendored thing"
Nikhil

02 May 2018
03:22:27am

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

I don't receive any letters much. Maybe 10 letters per year. That's it.


Like
Login to Like
this post
Members Picture
Bujutsu

02 May 2018
11:13:14am

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

There is another way of looking at this situation. Let's say that coins are no longer used in transactions, stamps are no longer used on mail and baseball did stop. Please note, this is a hypothetical look on it from my point.

I will use a question to try to convey my point, so please excuse any mistakes on my part

Would baseball and all other sports cards would continue to be collected? Because I do not collected sports cards and only dabbled in coins, I'll stick with the stamps picture only. If stamps ceased to be printed, I still believe that the hobby will continue. My point is this - - we lost a lot of potential collectors because too many countries issue too many stamps and collectors could not keep up with them. If stamps were to be ceased being printed, then we could at least center our interests in specific areas. We still could never collect all that has been issued, but at least we could pick a goal, with some countries anyway.

I know I'm not putting myself across entirely simply because I am not really sure how to word it. However, the stamp catalogues would have a beginning and an end with lists. That would make it easier for collectors to pick a particular area too. We could confine ourselves to an area that we each feel that we can handle.

I hope I explained myself clear enough?

Anyway, happy collecting.

Chimo

Bujutsu

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.
Members Picture
ikeyPikey

03 May 2018
12:13:57am

re: Youngsters Collecting ?

Bujutsu is correct: if we ever saw the end of postage stamps, we would at least enter the Age of Completion.

But I am not sure that this would matter very much.

We can already set well-defined boundaries of collections that can be completed, either geopolitically (colonies until independence, satellites until the breakup of the FSU, etc) as well as temporal markers (until this or that war).

There would still be stamps out of reach for financial reasons, and there would still be doctrinal arguments about whether/not this/that color/paper/etc variety is really a different stamp ... both of which make for fuzzy definitions of 'complete'.

Lastly, there would (presumably) still be new meter varieties, CVP, slogan cancels, etc, to keep the philatelic universe expanding.

Cheers,

/s/ ikeyPikey

Like 
2 Members
like this post.
Login to Like.

"I collect stamps today precisely the way I collected stamps when I was ten years old."
        

Contact Webmaster | Visitors Online | Unsubscribe Emails | Facebook


User Agreement

Copyright © 2024 Stamporama.com