PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE STORY BEHIND STAMPS

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 16, Issue 3, 2 October 1950, Page 4

PUBLIC INTEREST IN THE STORY BEHIND STAMPS

By “Philatelist”

From the limited hobby of a few, stamp collecting has become the “philately” of the many, but it still holds the old interest for the beginner, while extending ever-wid-ening educational and recreational aspects to the devotee. New Zealand’s interest in stamp albums goes back a long way. The Royal Philatelic Society of\ New Zealand, founded in 1888, with headquarters in Wellington, is one of the first three such bodies in the British Empire. Progress in stamp collection generally has been steady. The Federation of New Zealand Philatelic Societies embraces the majority of the country’s 24 philatelic bodies, and represents over 5000 members,. Indications point to a further extension of activities both in clubs and among the general public. In suggesting to parents particular the wisdom of giving their children a start in this healthy hobby, it may be said that an interest in stamps produces a brighter pupil at school: a better informed member of adult society. Variety Of Subjects

There is an increasing trend to collect stamps relating to special subjects, nature study for one. Hundreds of stamps carry flowers, birds, animals, even reptiles for a design. The collector, young or old, soon requires a knowledge of the subjects of illustration and the countries from whence they come. In recent years, the older countries have had various railway centenaries, with the inclusion of commemorative stamps of engines, trains and stations over a period of 100 years. That starts the mechanically inclined collector on a. wider , range of interest regarding the same places. And what youthful philatelist would not be attracted to history by the possession of such stamps as the 1927 Portuguese issues portraying Brites de Almeida, the Portuguese Joan of Arc, who killed seven Spanish soldiers with . a baker’s spade?

The young mind is to its greatest degree of assmilation the love of a hobby, but the most adventurous can find nothing but healthy stimulus from such figures as Jean Cabot, Jacques Cartier, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, and the ship in which they sailed. Interest in the exploits of Montcalm and Wolfe in Canada, Sir Walter Raleigh in British Guiana, would be almost incidental to possession of postage stamps in which the- deeds of these heroes are perpetuated. Geography, Too

The use of maps on stamps engraves geography on the collector’s mind, though before taking up. the hobby he may have shown but slight interest in this important subject. A good basic stamp in this field is the old Canadian issue carrying the map of the world with the Empire, as it was then, in red. The postage stamps of South American republics and many islands of the British Commonwealth carry maps. The philatelist also becomes interested in social and humanitarian developments. For instance, at a Wellington “quiz” a prifce worth over £2O, awaited the naming of the originator of the Red Cross. A stamp collector in the audience could scarcely keep his seat. He knew the answer from a 1928 charity stamp of Switzerland, which shows Jean Henri Dunant, of Red Cross fame. / An indication of the breadth of. study to which collectors are inspired is the furnishing by the stamp branch of the General Post Office of a list of the main currencies of the world reduced to a New Zealand equivalent,! for the use of stamp collectors. Its encouragement of stamp collecting is a little known but valuable contribution by the Post Office to the education of the child and the general knowledge of the community. The advance, which it is believed will continue, in membership of philatelic clubs will be looked forward to hopefully as showing cul tural trend in the recreations of the community.