Interesting Hobbies STAMP COLLECTING WITH A NOVEL TWIST

Dominion, Volume 30, Issue 190, 8 May 1937, Page 3 (Supplement)

Interesting Hobbies STAMP COLLECTING WITH A NOVEL TWIST

The desire to amass the greatest number or variety of -any given article is the motive force behind many hobbies. Spurred on by their acquisitive instincts, people collect cigarette cards, ch.na, luggage tags, porcelain, dolls, stamps, or what have you? And there are even different methods of grouping or arrangement. The usual method of stamp collecting is what may be termed the “country by country” method. The stamps of each country are allotted certain pages in the album and are not mixed. Someri yiQs in the books of even quite ftgßtical philatelists, however, one comes across stamps pasted in under the wrong country—Austria, Czechoslovakia, Germany and some of the more obscure African dependenc.es are easily confused. Mr. H. D. Mullon, New Plymouth, has given his collecting a decidedly novel twist. He does not suggest that the ordinary method be scrapped, but he has a further album which he uses for what may be termed the “type” or “subject” method of collecting. His idea is to ignore the country, though the collector may keep two albums, one for British Empire and the other for fore.gn stamps. . „ A brief glance at Mr. Mullon s album reveals the manner of going about the hobby. The first page has copies of the first stamp of all time—the penny black, and also its mate, the 2d. blue, of Great Britain. This may be called the birth certificate of philately. In succeeding pages are the Royal Family, including numerous portraits of Queen Victoria and King George V. Other members are the ex-king, and the present King and his family. On the stamps of Newfoundland there is a portrait of James the First and Charles the First occupies a place on the stamps of Barbados. Great men make an excellent subject for collecting. James Cook, the great navigator; Lord Byron. Lord Bacon i nd John Guy are remembered by Newfoundland. Columbus may be seen on the stamps of almost every American country. He is also commemorated by Spain, and several pages may profitably be used for stamps of his life and _ work. Augustus Caesar and Garibaldi from Italy, Lincoln, Washington. John Hale, Woodrow Wilson and a score of others from the United States of America; Goya from Spain, Baden Powell from the Boer War days in Mafeking. Marx, Lenin and others from Russia, Sturt of Australia—these are only a few promstamp album. Other pages in Mr. Mullon’s album

are given over to mountains, bridges, Olympic Games, sports, great inventions, ships (sailing and steam), churches, houses of legislature and post offices. Sometimes a stamp may be used for two or even more subjects. For example, the 50-cent stamp of Canada, showing the old church at Grand Pre, may be used for churches, monuments and “How we took Canada from the French.” The Canadian stamp of Mount Edith Cavell may be put with the mountains and also with “Famous and Noble Women.” One of the most interesting pages in Mr. Mullon’s collection is that of Englishmen who have been honoured by foreign countries—Stanley by Belgian Congo, Byron by Greece, and Anthony Eden by Egypt, to name only a few. “Of course, the method demands some research,” Mr. Mullon writes. “The stamps will convey little or no meaning if there are no notes. The annotations should be brief—remember that this is a stamp album, not a history or a geography book. The name of the person commemorated, ius birthplace and date, his claim to remembrance and perhaps his death, would be sufficient in most cases. The name of a building or bridge may be printed in by hand, or even the typewriter may be used. If the stamp has a long story—the Old Church of Canada, as previously mentioned, has a deep and noble story—this could be written on a separate sheet and either kept in the album or in a separate book. “This methQd of collecting takes no notice of perforations, watermarks, or papers. The value of the stamp, likewise, does not matter—the three cents of Parliament Buildings, Ottawa, is just as good for the purpose as the scarcer dollar stamp. Items must necessarily be in good condition on the face; no important part of the picture should be obliterated. This method of collecting is commended to parents of boys and girls attending school. There is no need to stress the advantages and the educational value should not be impressed on the child. He will learn without knowing that he is so doing. Immediately he discovers that you want him to collect for this reason the hobby will become a drudgery and lose its Interest. The scope of ’type’ or ‘subject’ collecting is almost unlimited, and the collector may give vent to his own particular fancies without giving offence to anyone or breaki ing any philatelic law.” I It is not surprising to learn of several i who have taken up the new hobby with considerable enjoyment.