So, You Think Being A Dealer Would Be Easy?
by John M. Hotchner

(This is written in first person for effect, though I have only worked for a dealer.)

1. If I were to calculate the value of my time spent cataloging and looking up references in order to price my material fairly and to sell, my return per hours spent would be minimal.
2. And that’s before I spend additional time calculating offers on material collectors and dealers are selling. And the time spent keeping up with philatelic news and trends by means of reading philatelic periodicals and other literature.
3. For every item I sell, I must buy something on which I can make a reasonable profit in the future. Since only half or less of what I buy will sell again within a year, I actually need to buy more, knowing that I may have to discount some of it eventually to clear it out.
4. Every transaction has to be recorded for the benefit of the tax man — federal, state and local. And it has to be recorded in a consistent and usable format. I wish I’d paid better attention in my “business math” course in high school. College calculus doesn’t help much.
5. I am expected to be an expert on all things philatelic by my customers: to be able to spot fakes at 500 paces, to answer even the most elemental questions as well as the tough ones patiently and in depth, and to be able to predict what will gain or lose value on the long term. The good news is that philately is a continuing education. One cannot help but learn new things.
6. Increasingly, I need to be a technical wizard to reach my potential customers “where they are” on the Internet, Twitter, texting, etc. None of this comes for free — either in terms of time or money. This is a good thing as I can now speak my children’s language, though I could use more of their technical savvy.
7. And I must balance those methods of outreach with more traditional direct and in-person outreach such as print advertising, taking a table at stamp shows, getting involved as an active member of a local club, and even contributing articles on my business or my specialties to the philatelic press.
8. I must — often a pleasurable experience, but just as often not — to shows, to evaluate prospective purchases, to meet clients. And once I make a commitment to be there, neither rain nor snow nor hurricane is an adequate excuse for not showing up as promised. Even illness doesn’t cut it unless I or one of my nearest and dearest is in extremis. And yes, I must keep track of all those expenses, including the extra hotel nights when weather cancels planes or closes highways.
9. Connected to #8, I have to explain to my significant other and family members why their spur-of-the-moment or short-term plans for birthday parties, school events, weddings, births, and even deaths conflict with my commitments made sometimes two or three years into the future. Against this problem is the fact that mostly when I am home, my time is my own. I’m not punching a clock.
10. I must maintain a home office — or even more significant, a business address — where I do my work, run my business, communicate with my customers, and store my stock. While a tax-deductible set of expenses (again that accounting!), those costs have to be figured into the pricing of my material,
11. They know me at the post office, where the increasingly intricate rules for mailing flats and using controlled mail mean I must stand in line just about every day. Oh, yes, and there are the constantly increasing rates, too.
12. I must maintain a significant philatelic library covering the areas in which I am active, including “investing” in the most current catalogues and specialty society literature, as well as the standard references from the past.
13. I need to be master of the watermark tray, the perforation gauge, color charts, and cancellation measurement devices — even a small mistake can cost me a bundle of bucks, or make me look like a complete idiot to my customers.
14. My customers are not only my bread-and-butter; they are the reason I got into the business. I enjoy them and enjoy filling their wants. And yet, some few seem to go out of their way to be ill-humored, overly contentious on prices, and/or are so taken by their own importance that they treat me like a bug they can squash. I try to stay detached and not take it personally.
15. Studying the souk in Damascus is a sport for me as I have had to integrate the lessons of human impulse, financial motivations, and the game of bargaining in how I negotiate with customers. Reaching a mutually agreed price — whether buying or selling — is a good deal more complicated than marking an item at $5 (or $500) and waiting for someone who wants it that badly to show up. Some dealers will not move on price. I don’t like to, but for good customers, or ones who buy a lot…
16. I often need to find and employ knowledgeable and honest part-time help to keep my stock in order, to service customer orders, to help cover my booth at shows, but also to design my web interfaces, and to help with my accounting and tax chores. This brings a new level of complexity to my “sole proprietorship”.
17. I must maintain good relations with other dealers in the community; not only because it is the right thing to do, but because we often help each other with knowledge, with references to available material, with mentoring, and in many other ways.

And yet despite the requirements and the obstacles, I love the hobby, the great majority of its practitioners, their lust for challenge and discovery, and simply handling stamps and covers. I enjoy seeing material I’ve sold being used in exhibits, in articles, and achieving new catalogue status. I enjoy the discoveries I make, and even the ones that others make in my stock. (After all, I got the price I needed when I sold the item.)

No occupation is without its hurdles, and despite mine, I enjoy most of the work, and it does put dinner on the table!

Should you wish to comment on this column, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contribu-tor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

Showcasing Our Hobby. Why? How?
by John M. Hotchner

Have you noticed if your local library, post office, hospital, or church has an enclosed bulletin board where you could put up a small display of stamps? Those of course are not the only places that a showing of postage stamps could be displayed. How about the local Audubon Society, bar association, garden club, music club, veterans association, or any of dozens of other groups with a substantive focus that would match up with stamp designs from the U.S. — or indeed from around the world.

Those who have the collector gene and are into stamps often have interests beyond stamps, and the opportunity to cross the divide and present stamp collecting to another collecting or special interest group is one that can spark interest and add new adherents to our hobby. And if that is done by a display, it eliminates the sometimes bothersome problem of having to stand in front of a group to give a talk.

While actions that add one collector at a time to the body of stamp collectors may seem like spitting into the wind, that is the only way the hobby has ever grown, and will ever grow. And the one person you “recruit” may turn into a recruiter him — or her — self, or a club officer, philatelic writer, or serious researcher who makes great contributions to the hobby. If each of us over the course of our collecting life brought in just two people — one to replace ourselves, and one to add to our numbers, we would see tremendous growth in the hobby.

There are of course many ways to do that, but one that I think gets too little mention is looking to adults who are already collectors or who have a specific interest that stamps can help to feed. And the objective is to reach them where they are — in clubs devoted to their interest, through their professional associations, and relating to their life experiences. In a location like a library, consult with library staff to see what sort of literature they are intending to feature; perhaps related to a coming holiday, a type of literature, or current events in the community.

No one can force feed potential stamp collectors. Committing to the hobby is a voluntary act. And it starts with hooking the interest of a potential recruit. In other words, we need to put the hobby in front of non-collectors, and if one of 100 who view the presentation decide to look into stamp collecting, we have been successful. If a bunch of the remaining 99 file away the experience as a positive one, that also is success. Even if they themselves do not start a collection, perhaps they will support a friend or relative who announces that they are getting involved in the hobby.

In that way, putting up a display of stamps in a non-philatelic venue is a bit like throwing a pebble into the water: You just never know where the ripples will go, or who might be affected downstream.

So, what to show, and how to show it? The obvious answer is stamps that relate to the venue. But that isn’t the only answer. Keeping in mind that the audience may have handled thousands of stamps while mailing letters, but is essentially illiterate about the fine points of the hobby, the emphasis should be on design content and visual appeal; not on different perforation methods, covers and odd usages, or watermarks. Stamps within the reach of viewers should be featured; and that would mean inexpensive U.S. stamps are the best vehicle to get across the point.

This is not to say that the ‘Wow! Factor’ should be ignored. If you have a beautifully cacheted first day cover, an attractive foreign stamp that relates, or something with a design error, a highly visual error like an invert, or a variety such as a bad misperf, it does not hurt to show the variety of the hobby in that manner, but it should constitute no more than about 10% of the display — unless of course you are specifically aiming to show an American on foreign stamps, the world of EFOs, or another subject that demands broader coverage.

Mint stamps are best, but lightly canceled used stamps are ok. Condition should be as good as it can be, without obvious faults. Unless the display box can be closed and locked, expensive stamps should not be used.

Now, on to the How. Small doses of the hobby are best with an audience that is unschooled and/or in a hurry. In philatelic exhibitions aimed at collectors, we normally show multiple frames composed of 16 letter-sized pages. I think that less is better for those not yet collectors. Eight to 12 pages (or six to nine) would be ideal depending upon the area available in the display box you are filling.

The pages themselves can be from a printed album, or specially made up for the specific display. If the former, one page should be reserved as an introduction so that you can convey to viewers your enthusiasm for the subject, your enthusiasm for the hobby, and contact points that they can use to get further information. This can be your local stamp club, the American Philatelic Society, a specialty society, or if you are willing, your own email or postal addresses.

I like the idea of showing album pages as they show that one can get into collecting with preprinted pages, rather than having to make one’s own. Of course collectors often “graduate” from album pages and find that it is actually fun to make your own. But the very thought could be overwhelming to a beginner.

How to put the pages up on the display box? It is easy if the box lies flat. But if it is up on the wall, then double-sided tape can work well. Another alternative is putting your display pages on larger construction paper using photographic corners, and then tacking the large sheets into the box can work equally well. You want to avoid putting tack holes into pages you have worked hard to make attractive.

Pay a bit of attention to the size of your type, and the density of your write-up. Dense paragraphs of small type are a put-off. Much better is limiting the write-up to one or two sentences of fairly large type. Labels giving essential information (year of issue, country, design content, if not obvious) are even better.

Once you have done a couple of these displays, you will have developed a technique, but for the first efforts, try them out on your family or a friend who is not a collector, so you can get feedback and guidance on how your display will be received, and whether you need to use a different approach.

Should you wish to comment on this column, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

Who Started You on Your Philatelic Path?
by John M. Hotchner

A friend reminiscing as he leaves the hobby due to serious medical issues recently wrote about his start as a stamp collector 65 years ago: “When I was eleven, my Dad left us, and we were transported from a major city to a relatively remote rural farming community, where my maternal grandparents took in my mother, younger brother and me.

“To say that going from the city to the farm was under-stimulating in many ways would be an understatement, but I had the great good fortune of seeing an ad I think from Kenmore, or H.E. Harris for a whole envelope of postage stamps from around the world.…for a dime. Off went my dime, and I waited impatiently for the stamps.

“Our tiny place had a general store, and in the store a small post office. We were P.O. Box 15. I haunted the post office daily, and the postmaster caught on. After my stamps came, I sent off other dimes and quarters (my weekly allowance) for more…and more…and, well, I guess I never quit until today.

“The postmaster introduced me to Mr. Stone, a World War II refugee from England, who had settled for some unknown reason in our town. When Mr. Stone discovered my interest in stamps, he invited me to his home. It was a marvel of strange baking smells, and he and his daughter introduced me to scones and tarts and the art of drinking ‘real’ English tea.

“He would bring out boxes of stamps, and as we sat at the dining room table, he would pick up his funny little tweezers (tongs, of course), and comment on every stamp: where it came from, the history at the time in that particular country, who the people were on the stamps, etc. And then, wonder of wonders, he would start a pile of stamps for me there on the table and if I could identify the country, the stamp was mine! I had died and gone to philatelic heaven!

“And that was how it started for me. Stamps were my window to the world, and I eventually got to see in person many of the sights that had only been on stamps for me until then. I would go on for many decades, collecting, accumulating, sorting, saving, and even writing about stamps.

“I wish I could thank Mr. Stone for what he did for me in my restricted life. But maybe he knew anyway.

“Don’t know the purpose of this little tale, but feeling nostalgic about it today, and just wanted someone else to know how I got my start in stamps.”

With the electronics of today, kids no matter how rural their location, need never be “under-stimulated”, and therein lies the problem we have in bringing new collectors to the hobby. There are simply too many alternative activities for young people to get involved in. They don’t engage with stamp collecting because there is no void to fill any more. And beyond that, if introduced to stamps, many kids find it boring because there is little immediate pay off. They find the electronics more stimulating.

Yet, some do have a brush with the hobby—usually because of a connection to another collector—and it takes hold. And there are younger collectors—just not in the numbers we used to see.

I suspect that the ways that people come to the hobby these days are more varied as at least half the collectors I meet seem to have ‘joined up’ as adults even though they had no experience with the hobby as children.

We have spoken here before about the need to pass the hobby from one generation to the next by mentoring, and my friend’s experience is a good example of that. But I believe we need to learn from other models too. And for that reason, I would like to invite the readers of U.S. Stamp News to tell me about how YOU got started in the hobby. My hope is that you will share experiences that might help us today to bring new people into the hobby.

The reason is not, as some would have us believe, solely that we need to assure there will be collectors to buy our stamps when we ‘age out’. Rather, it is that stamp collecting is a wonderful hobby with many benefits for the collector in terms of relaxation, enjoyment, learning, fulfilling the need most of us have for organization, and so much more. In other words, I view it as a kindness to a fellow human being to get them involved in the hobby. I don’t care if they choose to collect something that I collect, or sail off into the sunset with something entirely different, so long as they are bitten by the bug, and discover the wonders of the hobby.

Increasingly, I think it is people approaching retirement age that are our best cohort for recruiting. This does not mean that youth should be ignored. There are already a wide range of youth outreach programs, including some innovative efforts through the electronic media of which they are so fond. But we have done less in the realm of outreach to adults who suddenly find themselves with time on their hands once their working life has come to an end.

And there is even less outreach to young professionals who might be convinced to dabble in the hobby even before retirement as a means of reducing the stresses of career-building and family-raising.

I want to know what worked to bring you into the hobby. What were your first experiences with stamps? How and by whom were you introduced? What were your first perceptions of the hobby? What got you to stick with it? What do you see as its benefits, or drawbacks?

There is no suggested length for your thoughts. Leave your omments right here.

Maintaining A Cover Collection: Organization Is Everything
by John M. Hotchner

My friend Doug Quine poses this question: “One of the great challenges in philately to me is that a cover (or article) that I collect today for an interesting stamp, postmark, or usage may prove to be of interest tomorrow because of its auxiliary marking. How do you manage to seemingly have your massive collection and reprints organized in such a way that when a new item appears you instantly know when you last saw it and how many you have?”

Doug seems to think I have mastered this particular devil. But given that at least once a month I dig for something I know I have and can’t find it immediately, I’m not so sure. There are, however, processes I’ve developed to minimize the problem, and I’m happy to share them.

The first is based on the assumption that file folders are cheaper than losing things.

I’m going to use as my example for this piece my Auxiliary Markings (AM) collection. AMs are the messages usually in purple hand stamps pre-1980, and often on computer paste-ons since, that tell us why the Postal Service has not been able to handle a letter as routine — leaving it damaged, undelivered, delayed, in need of more postage, or suffering from any of dozens of other problems.

I began accumulating them in the 1970s — examples, often free or inexpensive — went into a box. No need to organize at this point. But by the late ‘80s as children began going off to college followed eventually by weddings, I could no longer afford to feed existing collections and needed something cheap to play with. Down from the shelf came that AM accumulation.

To make a long story short, over the next 15 years that box of covers developed into a Gold and Grand Award winning exhibit, the source of inspiration for many articles, and the basis for founding, with Doug’s help, the Auxiliary Markings Club.

In the process, the collection supporting the exhibit grew in volume to fill six Xerox boxes.

The exhibit began by covering the entire 100 years of the 20th century. Over ten years, the amount of material needed to illustrate the period covered dictated a reduction in scope from 100 years to 75, and then from 75 to 50, and the present form of the exhibit just covers 1900-1949.

I’m hopeful that time and health will allow for preparation one day of a parallel exhibit covering 1950-1999 delayed mail. And I have not ruled out an exhibit for 2000-2025 (by which time I will have turned 82!) The result is that I’m actively accumulating candidates for those exhibits, as well as trying to improve the existing exhibit.

If covers were the only thing to organize, store and access, the challenge would be difficult enough. But there is another dimension because there is no single reference for information about delayed and undeliverable mail. So my horde of covers is augmented by something over 2,500 clippings, articles, printouts of Post Office rules, and images of covers in other collections and from auction catalogs.

This is needed to support research to explain the covers in the collection, and practices that acted on the covers in the exhibit. And it is also essential background for my writings in Linn’s, LaPosta, and other venues, as well as to answer questions from readers.

Bottom line: This mass of material demands a high level of organization so that I can find things. How to do that? There is a process.

The first sort for incoming material, be it covers or information, is into one of four boxes labeled Pre-1900, 1900-1949, 1950-1999, and 2000+. As time permits and necessity dictates, these boxes periodically get sorted into file folders labeled by time period and for the type of delay. For example, each time period has folders for Transportation Delays, Postage Due From Sender, Postage Due From Addressee, Natural Disasters (which can be subdivided into Earthquakes, Hurricanes, and Floods) Delays, Damage in the Mails, and much more.

It may be evident that one cover or clipping could fit into more than one folder. So, in addition to fat file folders being subdivided into ever more specific categories, there is a need to cross-index by writing on the folders a note about where else to look for a specific item. An example would be “See also Suspended Mail Service” on the “War Covers” folder.

This can get to outlandish proportions as with the category of “Inability to Deliver the Mail” which for 1900-1949, where most of my work is concentrated, now subdivides into 28 subcategories including for example, “Deceased,” “No Such City in State Named,” “Signature Refused,” “Addressee Gone Away,” etc.

This system works for me, but it is not enough by itself. For 1900-1949 there is also a folder for “Candidates for the exhibit” and another for “Information to update the exhibit”.

Of course there are also other complications: Articles in progress require gathering of a group of covers and information on the desired subject into a clear plastic page protector, which goes into the appropriate “pending drafting box” for one of the nine publications to which I regularly contribute.

Those packets may take six to nine months to be translated into article form and be published. And once sent off to a publication, the pending article and its support materials go into a separate pending file. With all these places to look, is it any wonder things get “lost,” at least temporarily?

I can say with a straight face that I have a pretty good memory. I know if I have seen a marking, if I have it, and if I have information about it. And if something is not where it is supposed to be, I may or may not recall what I may have done with it, but I do generally know where else to look. It may be in the exhibit, in one of the pending files, in the primary sort box, in the current correspondence file, or (rarely) in a big box of stuff that I have declared excess and available for trade or sale.

There has even been the occasional misfile. So it comes down to this: There is no perfect system, even as there is no perfect human. But if one is willing to devote the significant amount of time to developing and using a logical system of organization, almost everything can be located because the alternative locations where it can be found are limited and defined.

So, Doug, I hope this helps you and others.

by John M. Hotchner

In a previous column I mentioned that my history in the hobby stretches back over 60 years, and it got me thinking. In many respects I’ve had two jobs – my means of putting food on the table for my family, and a nearly equal amount of time week-by-week devoted to the hobby. The financial returns have been modest, but the enjoyment has been a gift; whether time spent working on my own collections, or writing and editing time, or working with others helping to build the hobby’s infrastructure.

What came to me as I thought about the 60 years is the wide range of friendships I have had, but would not have, had I not gotten involved in organized philately, in exhibiting and judging, and recruiting for the hobby. One of the wonderful things about our hobby is that everyone, both the well-known names and the beginning collector are equal in our enjoyment of the collecting experience. When I began at the “beginning collector” end of that spectrum, I asked a lot of questions of anyone I thought might be able to answer. And it was rare that I did not get a cheerful, helpful answer.

All these years later, remembering back to those days, it is clear that I have gone through a role reversal. I now get to field a lot of the questions collectors have, but that is terrific, because I have always treasured the opportunity to hear about what others at all levels of the hobby think about what is happening in the philately, what they collect and why, and the odd things they find and enjoy. Perhaps that is one of the motivations of my becoming a philatelic writer. But the bottom line is that I feel privileged that my pursuits have allowed me to meet and get to know a great many wonderful people.

I want to take the rest of this column to name some of them; some names you will recognize, others not. My object is to acknowledge and say thanks; but also to make clear that we all stand on the shoulders of those who came before. I’d also like to entice you further into the hobby as I know that you will enjoy the experience AND will find that involvement is a one way ticket to friendships and associations that will enrich your life as they have enriched mine.

I must start with my father, Howard Hotchner, a Brooklyn boy who began collecting stamps before age ten and never quit. Of his three children I was the only one to catch the disease from him, but I was well and truly hooked early, and benefited for 40 years from his knowledge, encouragement and guidance. In the early years, my enthusiasm for the hobby was matched by that of high school (and beyond) buddy Bob Olds, who through his own enthusiasm stoked my philatelic fires, and remains a dedicated collector to this day.

Several of Dad’s friends were also mentors and friends to me: Jacques Minkus, Ernie Kehr, Elizabeth Denny Vann, Bill Hermann, Herman Neugass, Jan van der Vate, Bill Waldrop, Wes Capar, Bill Littlewood, Bud Petersen, and others now gone, pushed or pulled me along the path. Minkus and his Washington, D.C. staffers Morris and Hilda Flint even gave me a part-time job at the Minkus operation in the Woodward & Lothrop Department Store, just a few blocks from the White House, that lasted several years.

In the local Dolley Madison Stamp Club, those I got to know well over many years included Ray Hall, Margaret Babb, Ralph Walker, Mary Onufrak, Hank Simpson, Charlie Baker, Eric Emsing, Ann Brown, Tom Bristol, Miles Manchester, Gil Corwin, Carl Troy, Marilyn Mattke, Jim Cross, Bill Olcheski, and Harry Wohl, a few of whom are still above the sod, and remain good friends.

When the time came to get deeply into interest areas beyond my father’s, I got to know by mail such people as George Brett, Vernon Bressler, Jack Molesworth, Dick Graham, and Joe Bush. They could have ignored the twerp who asked a lot of what must have seemed to be elementary questions, but they were unfailingly gracious, and the dealers among them spent far more time on my queries than I spent money with them!

Eventually I got knowledgeable enough to trade information and material with others sharing my philatelic persuasions. Among them I would recognize with special fondness Larry Weiss, Frank Pogue, Pete Martin, Dan Pagter, Phil Nazak, Hugh Wynn, Jerry Wagshal, Charles Rudd (from New Zealand), Pip Wilcox, Doug Lehmann, Jim Cotter, Ernie Mosher, Don Evans, John Briggs, Ella Sauer, Lyle Hall, Tom Current, Ray Garrison, Jack Beachboard, Steve Datz, Bruce Mosher, Howard Gates, Bill Hatton, Ray Fehr, Bob Collins, Lou Caprario, Alex Hall, Brian Saxe, Arne Rasmussen (of Denmark), Ernest Malinow (of the UK), and Lou Repeta.

My first expedition into organized philately beyond my local club was in our Virginia State Federation, and there were many who befriended the new kid: Joe Harowitz, Alma Snowa, Jo Bleakley, Rudy Roy, Mike Falls, Darrell Ertzberger, Ed and Fran Rykbos, Leroy and Cora Collins, and last but not least, Don Jones and his wife Mary Ellen, who have become lifelong friends and in doing so went a long way toward convincing my wife Nanette that philately can be a positive despite its stealing time from a marriage.

Speaking of marriage reminds me of children, and my four Rick, Jay, Posey and James each took a turn at the hobby, and dropped it in favor of other activities. But unlike when they begged me to stop smoking, all have been and continue to be supportive of the old man’s obsession with little bits of colored paper.

The Virginia Philatelic Federation led me into exhibiting and then to judging, and it was here that I met and was taken under the wing of the colorful Clyde Jennings who must have despaired at times of my geeky and shy approach to life, but encouraged me to do things I had never dreamed of by telling me repeatedly that I could — and should. Other early mentors and founts of knowledge included Bud Hennig, Bill Bauer, Bud Sellers, Phil Ireland, Gordon Torrey, Charlie Peterson, John Foxworth, Pete Robertson, Bob Odenweller, and George Guzzio.

As I got established in the hobby, I was lucky enough to meet and learn from/work with contemporaries Steven Rod, Randy Neil, Peter McCann, Stan Luft, Jim Lee, Dick Winter, Steve Schumann, Rich Drews, Francis Kiddle (of the UK), Dan and Pat Walker, Steve Luster, Jackie Alton, Jamie Gough, Karol Weyna, Scott Shaulis, Ed Jarvis, Jim Mazepa, Alan Warren, “Connie” Bush, Ted Bahry, Edgar Hicks, Cheryl Ganz, Roland Essig, Steve Suffet, Art Groten, Jack Harwood, Steve Washburne, John Warren, Pat Walters, Joann and Kurt Lenz, Henry Sweets, Eliot Landau, Nick Lombardi, Roger Brody, Phil Stager, Hideo Yokota, Bill Waggoner, Joe Ward, Ann Triggle, Jane Fohn, Nancy Zielinski-Clark, Charles Verge, Phil Rhoade, Abraham Gelber (of Costa Rica), Paolo Comelli (of Brazil), and Jay Jennings (son of Clyde).

And it has been a privilege to get to know some of the rising generation of leaders typified by Tim Bartshe, David McNamee, Liz Hisey, Tony Dewey, Tony Wawrukiewicz, Tom Fortunato, Lloyd de Vries, Larry Fillion, Vesma Grinfelds, Alex Haimann, John Allen, Andy Kupersmit, Mike Lampson, Cemil Betanov, Steve Davis, David McKinney, Dzintars Grinfelds, John Phillips, Rudy de Mordaigle, Don David Price, Tim Hodge, and Dan Piazza.

Randy Neil deserves a special note. The man is a marvel. I was lucky to work with him in founding the American Association of Philatelic Exhibitors, U.S. Stamps & Postal History (the predecessor of USSN), in establishing American Stamp Dealer & Collector magazine, and on a dozen initiatives in APS. No one else in the hobby has been more creative in making it an attractive pastime.

When I first ran for a Director position on the APS Board, it was then Director of Administration Frank Sente with whom I had worked as head of the Chapter Activities Committee who told me to go for it. People not already mentioned that I met during the APS years that have been sources of inspiration include Keith Wagner, Mercer Bristow, George Martin, Bob Lamb, Janet Klug, Steve Reinhard, Dana Guyer, Barb Johnson, Ada Prill, Ray Ireson, Norm Holden, Dorothy Blaney, Cheryl Edgcomb, Ken Martin, Wade Saadi, David Straight, Kitty Wunderly, Ernie Bergman, Gordon Morison, Steve Zwillinger, Joe Cleary, Dave Flood, and Bob Zeigler.

My writing career really began with a go-ahead from Ed Neuce, then editor of Linn’s, but so many wonderful people have been talented editors, supporters and collegial colleagues over the years including Mike Laurence, Ken Lawrence, Dick Graham, Les Winick, Ken Wood, Rob Haeseler, Michael Schreiber, Denise McCarty, Donna Houseman, Fred and Elaine Boughner, Barth Healey, Charlie Yeager, Len Piszkiewicz, George Amick, Jim Czyl, Allison Cusick, Fred Baumann, Michael Baadke, Wayne Youngblood , Joe Brockert, John and Elaine Dunn, Dan Barber, Dane Claussen, Dick Sine, Jay Bigalke, and Brian Baur.

Other organizations and other people played a role in my philatelic life, be it as elder mentors and guides, and/or colleagues on projects to push the philatelic boulder up the mountain a few more inches. Among them are Bill Schumann, Jacques C. Schiff, Jr., Jim McDevitt, Mike Bush, Robert Morgan, Michael Dixon, Harry Chamberlain, Elmer Cleary, Ralph Nafziger, Tom Breske, Doug Quine, David Beeby, George Godin, Jerry Kasper, Howard Petschel, Dennis Clark, Gene Zhiss, Stan Kenison, Hal Griffin, Al Kugel, Wilson Hulme, John Cali, Ed Dykstra, Carl Burnett, Jay and Denise Stotts, Steve Turchik, Jim Lee, Jack Williams, Kay Don Kahler, Gary DuBro, and Tony Crumbley.

To think that I might have missed meeting the great majority of these people if I’d remained a “closet collector!” And this is not a complete list. I have undoubtedly left out people who should be mentioned, but faulty memory and lack of space don’t permit a comprehensive list.

Also, among those named, many could be mentioned in several categories. Again, I simply want to convey the breadth of influences on my philatelic life, and by doing so illustrate how by allowing ourselves the freedom to get involved, we can enrich our lives in undreamed of ways.

A Review of the Last 60 Years
by John M. Hotchner

“The more things change, the more they remain the same,” according to the old wise man. But as I think back over my 60+ years in the hobby, where we have come from and the changes I have seen, I don’t think this old saw is true of philately. I’d like to do a little free association here, and list ten changes I am pleased with and ten I am not so happy about. In other words, things that help the hobby, and things that in my view are not positives. First the positive changes, in no special order:

1. Improvements in the Scott Catalogue (addition of color, new features in the Specialized, release of the 1840-1940 Classic Specialized, increasing the scope of listings in all catalogs, efforts to have prices mirror the market). Catalogs are the bedrock of the hobby. The more complete, accurate and attractive they are, the easier it is to collect.

2. The increase in the range of subjects on U.S. stamps since the Presidentials of my youth. Of course this can be and sometimes is a mixed blessing, but in general, the more the nation’s stamps relate to the lives and passions of the people who collect them or might collect them, the better. Development of regular multicolor printing has made the stamps more attractive as well.

3. Continuing and growing interest in the usages of stamps on cover. Not only does this speak to why the stamps were issued, but it also expands the hobby in a way that is limitless as one stamp can be used in many ways, to many destinations, with many different interesting cancellations, and more.

4. Philatelic exhibiting has gone from showing mainly expensive stamps in a stamp- or set-focused presentation, to an undreamed of inclusiveness that encompasses postal history, topical/thematic collecting, illustrated mail (think of FDCs and other cachets), the development of aeronautics and astronautics as shown by covers, Cinderella material, post cards, and even exhibits that include non-philatelic memorabilia that supplements it.

5. In parallel with #4, constantly increasing quality, consistency and accountability in philatelic judging, that puts more emphasis on the story being told and illustrated by the stamps and covers, and less on the raw dollar signs associated with the material in the exhibit. Together, numbers 4 and 5 bring exhibiting within the range and ability of many more stamp and cover collectors, and computers have made it far easier to do exhibits, too.

6. The rise of the Internet while a bit of a mixed blessing makes philatelic information and access to the hobby’s formal infrastructure far more available to both collectors and potential collectors.

7. The rise in the number of philatelic specialty organizations has promoted inquiry into, and collecting of, smaller slices of the philatelic pie that used to be mostly ignored. The result has been publishing and wider dissemination of information about previously unknown and uncared for material, making the hobby much more attractive to a wider range of collectors.

8. The establishment of the Smithsonian’s National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C., which has brought a focus to the importance of stamps and the U.S. mails in the development of the United States. The expansion of the Museum due to its director Allen Kane and his deputy, Cheryl Ganz, will give all collectors in the U.S a home in the Smithsonian system, and center of excellence to be proud of in showing their families the importance of philately.

9. A growing realization on the part of many in the hobby’s organizations, especially the American Philatelic Society, that more than children and Caucasian men aged 50 and beyond should be targeted with the good news of philately — its ability to generate enthusiasm and enjoyment, and its collateral benefits in learning, reducing blood pressure, and meeting and sharing the hobby with new friends. This has led to productive outreach efforts and there will be more.

10. The inevitable rise in the number of direct buy and sell systems on the Internet, and the presence of dealers and auctioneers who are learning to use new technology to grow their businesses and to fill the needs of increasingly computer-literate generations of collectors.

All right. On to the less-happy changes:

1. The inability of the trade to replicate Denison hinges.

2. Steep price rises in the cost of some of the basics of collecting: catalogs, albums, yearly supplements.

3. Decrease in the number of worldwide collectors, and even total-country collectors, in favor of topical collectors. I’ll happily accept new collectors in the hobby however they start, but those who start with a more limited vision of their challenge may not ever gain a full appreciation of the breadth and depth of the hobby.

4. The rise of the Internet has had an unfortunate effect in luring collectors away from philatelic publications and the clubs and societies that are responsible for so much of the positive activity upon which the hobby is built. Why should they pay dues or subscription fees when so much is freely available? But deeper engagement with the hobby’s activists and scholars is a desirable end, and it can’t be done as a lone wolf. Nor does that status help to build the hobby’s institutions, which is done mostly by volunteers who get involved.

5. The inclusion and then exclusion of European post-WW II Allied Military Government (AMG) issues from the Scott U.S. Specialized, and Scott standing fast these days on refusing to bring them back into the Catalogue.

6. The decreasing presence of U.S. history and non-arts, non-sports Americans of note on U.S. new issues.

7. An increase in condition standards such that too many look down their noses at anything less than 100% perfection in original gum, centering, lightness of cancel, etc. I have no difficulty with such condition elements being appreciated, but much difficulty with those who proclaim that all else is trash.

8. The over-planning and -organizing of young peoples’ lives leaving no time for free-form activities such as stamp collecting, because planned activities leave parents free to work or pursue their own activities, and because stamp collecting is not thought to contribute to future success in getting into the right school.

9. The rise of toys giving immediate gratification (from hundreds of TV channels, to video games, to handheld electronics) that crowd out activities like stamp collecting that teach slow but steady progress toward long-term goals.

10. The U.S. Postal Service’s short sighted judgment in cancelling the Benjamin Franklin Stamp Clubs in the early ‘90s because the expense in running a program aimed at young kids could not be justified by short-term stamp sales; never mind that the BFSC program represented an investment in longer-term health of the hobby, and with it stamp sales in the future.

You will have noticed that some of the positives and negatives are different sides of the same coin. Change is complicated, and frequently, though it responds to external conditions, the need for change is not always appreciated by those it most affects. Thus, it often is painful if only in the requirement that we suspend old assumptions. What I think is a tragedy is the reaction of some in throwing in their chips and leaving the hobby because they want things to stay the same. Our world is dynamic, so that won’t happen. So, as with all other areas of life, we must learn to adapt as best we can.

I know my lists are not going to match up exactly with yours. If you would like to add your pluses and minus to the above, post them in the comments area here.

Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

By John M. Hotchner

I scanned with trepidation an article in Bottom Line Personal (March 15, 2012) titled “Buyer Beware: 10 Collectibles Not Worth Collecting Anymore” by Terry Kovel. Happily, stamps were not included in the list, but there were some surprises, and some object lessons for our hobby.

Among the ten are “Hummel figurines,” “anything made by the Franklin Mint,” “Limited edition Barbie dolls,” “Thomas Kinkade paintings and prints,” and “Autographed sports memorabilia.” Explanations given by Ms. Kovel of why she chose these items provide some tips for us in philately.

She says that the generation that appreciated Hummels is now downsizing or dying off, dumping Hummels back onto the market by the thousands. With few exceptions, most have dropped from hundreds of dollars apiece to less than $100.

Could we see this happen in philately? Yes, indeed, if we do not work to recruit the next generation to stamp collecting and encourage them until they catch the fever as serious collectors. We seem to be doing all right with this if serious auction prices are a guide, but it would be a mistake to leave it to chance in the future. Every generation needs to recommit itself to bringing aboard the next; not just so that our stash retains its value but also because we have a wonderful hobby to share.

Ms. Kovel notes regarding the Franklin Mint that they “sell a wide selection of ‘limited edition’ coins, plates, medals, and other collectibles, but there is little resale market for any of it.” Happily she did not mention commemorative covers, which along with the other material have been packaged with descriptive information and hawked as products with historical significance.

There are other parallels in stamp collecting — fancy first day covers, gold-leaf reproductions of U.S. stamps, subject collections of specialized commemorative cancels celebrating something like Norman Rockwell. This sort of stuff is usually bought by novice collectors with an interest in stamps. The purveyors are careful not to say explicitly that their products have investment potential, but that is implied.

But Ms. Kovel is right, it is not unusual to see those covers selling for 5¢ on the dollar ‘invested’ in the aftermarket. This emphasizes the fact that collectors who approach the hobby as investors are often disappointed. Bad enough that they get burned, but they or their heirs will badmouth the hobby forever after their unfortunate discovery. Thus, we should not be “selling” the hobby for its investment potential, but for its joys as a pastime in everyday living.

Limited edition Barbie dolls were sold as toys, but were toys in name only. Ms. Kovel explains that “most were never played with, just set aside as investments, so they never became any rarer.” The company selling them “issued so many different limited-edition Barbies that few collectors could collect them all, and most stopped trying.”

Early very limited editions still have value, but as time passed and more buyers entered the market, more Barbies were released in larger numbers. Think about the growing boom market in the early stamps of the United Nations, Vatican City and Israel. Though after the very first issues, some were indeed used on mail, the great majority were snapped up by collectors as investments, and were never scarce. As new collectors came into the market (believing the hype about these areas having value potential) and started buying older issues, investors began to ‘dump’ their holdings.

It rapidly became apparent that there were more stamps available than buyers for them, and the bottom dropped out of those markets. The lesson: Beware of new flash-in-the-pan collecting areas. If investing is your game, older, high-quality stamps with established value are a far better bet.

Ms. Kovel’s article was written before his untimely passing in April, 2012, but she reports that Thomas Kinkade paintings and prints were heavily promoted, and sold in huge quantities in the 1990s, and now have “very limited” resale value. Because of his passing and attendant publicity, there is now a boomlet, but over time, I think we will see the market return to Ms. Kovel’s reported level.

It isn’t that the art has no merit. Rather, anything that becomes an instant hit through marketing can also become an instant dud when the hype passes and a new product takes its place in popular culture.

Finally, we have autographed sports memorabilia, which Ms. Kovel reports has declined sharply as it has become clear that many of the autographs are forgeries, and it is difficult to tell the good from the bad.

Like some elements of stamp collecting, proof of authenticity is required from an expertising service for the article to be salable. We are blessed in philately with several very good expertising committees that are able to render authoritative opinions in the vast majority of cases. Thus, happily in the case of autographed sports memorabilia, as with others the problem which has sunk a collectible has affected only a small portion of the broad stamp and cover collecting hobby. Still, the cumulative effects can be a concern, and we who are practitioners and guardians of our hobby need to be watchful.

Are we recruiting? Are we providing information to help newbies make good collecting decisions? Are we gently discouraging fads (recognizing that everyone should ultimately be free to make their own decisions, based upon their interests and pocket book, about what to collect) and refusing to be taken in by excessive hype? Are we collecting for the joy of the hobby, avoiding using stamp collecting as a get-rich-quick scheme? Finally, are we careful to assure that what we buy is genuine?

If we can answer yes to each of these questions, then stamp collecting will not be a subject of future iterations of Ms. Kovel’s article.

Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.

by John M. Hotchner

A daily trek to the post office is an established part of my routine. As often as not, I have to stand in line to mail a Priority Mail package, pick up packages or controlled mail, and/or weigh something to determine postage. Yes, I usually have something I can read while I wait, but sometimes I daydream. Over the course of a week, I wrote down those random thoughts:

• If the Post Office is losing so much business, how come all three counters are staffed, and there are still 15 people in line? Aha — one of the counters is doing only passport applications!
• Could this be the day I buy stamps and get a missing color, or stamps with no die cuts?
• Will I get the slowest and most careful clerk when I get to the head of the line; the one who makes sure that every stamp on the packages I get has at least two cancels?
• Looking through my post office box mail.…Looks like permit imprint impressions are taking over the world. If only 25% of these used stamps…
• If Saturday delivery goes away, does this mean the Post Office is closed just like on a Sunday, or will it be open for lobby business? If so, great way to sell post office boxes!
• Has the new commemorative come out yet? If so, will they have it? Recollecting the visit seeking the Cherry Blossoms stamps, the day after it was issued — and they were already sold out!
• Why individual stamps for ten poets, and only two Civil War designs?
• Why do customers wait until the clerk announces a total amount due to fish in their wallets or pocketbooks to find their credit/debit card? An extra 30 seconds for half the patrons each day adds up!
• Wonder if there is anyone from the Inspection Service actually looking out at the transactions from the peepholes above?
• Nice that supervisory staff are out here working the line to resolve some issues and get forms filled out before folks get to the clerks.
• Waiting for a certain item to show up — wonder if this pink slip is it? They used to write in the upper right corner who the pick-up was from; no longer. Well, it will get here eventually. After all, in the last five years, only one item I have sent or expected to receive disappeared into thin air. Given my mail volume, that is a pretty spectacular record.
• The clerks are really nice folks; putting up with the occasional grump — explaining the rules they must live by and doing their best to sooth ruffled feathers. Rare to hear “I want to talk to a supervisor!”
• Used to be I could weigh small packages and place the correct amount of postage. Now they have added size, destination and weight rules such that I have to wait in line to find out what a particular small package requires. Recognizing that they need to make back their costs, is the new complexity of rates not offset by the amount of clerk time (not to mention my time) that is now devoted to dealing with the complexity?
• Similar issue….The Unabomber is in jail…..Do we really have to continue to weigh and ask questions about flat-rate Priority Mail packages to prevent bombs in mail being moved by air, rather than just putting those packages in the mail slot?
• Computer-vended postage seems to be taking over the world! If only 25% of these people would use stamps….
• “I simply must mail this today!” — the cry of the person who arrives at the post office eight minutes after closing time, while the clerks are serving the last customers who arrived before closing time! Not unsympathetic, but sorry about that.…Go to the 24×7 station about 20 miles away!
• Why is it that the waiting line so often blocks the entry door instead of people figuring out that they need to fishtail the end of the line to move it away from the door and keep the entryway clear?
• Wonder how the new policy of not allowing patrons to use tubs is going? Used to be I could borrow a tub if I had a lot of mail, and return it the next day. Suddenly six months or so ago, the Postal Service told its staff not to loan out the tubs any more. Too many being diverted to other uses and not returned — adding to cost overruns, it seems. After a couple of months of heavy handed enforcement, we seem to have returned to common sense, but beware the new clerk.
• Need a money order today. Remarkably inexpensive for the convenience and the system’s security.
• I have alphabet stamps on one of my packages to mail. Will they take my word that A is 15¢, B is 18¢, etc., or will they have to take time to look it up, or even worse, call a supervisor? I must remember to bring my chart.
• Half the clerks seem to understand and be tolerant of stamp collecting; making the effort to cancel lightly, check to see if another clerk has something they are out of, etc. With my luck today, chances are I will get the heavy-handed Grinch.
• Used to be my post office box letter mail was available at 7:30 a.m. Now I can’t be sure that it is there before 11 a.m. And the new hours for window service (9:30 to 5, instead of 8:30 to 7) meant that I couldn’t get pick-ups during the week unless I left work 10 minutes early. (Retirement solved that problem!) Welcome to the new world of reduced staffing.
• Liberty Bell Forever stamps seem to be taking over the world! If only 25% of these people would use commemorative stamps…It may not sound like it, but on the whole I am a happy camper. The staff at my local post office and I are on first-name terms. They generally go out of their way to be helpful. Where they are allowed to give me the benefit of the doubt, they do. If I have one real complaint in a week, it is a lot. But I’m like most folks — too often I fear the worst…and it does not happen. Still, I am not happy about the diminished service, and the prospect of further erosion. Neither are the staff members at the post office.
  

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  Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

  Or comment right here.

by John M. Hotchner

Building the Future:
Visiting grown children is always a mind-altering experience; especially when it is the one among the pack who was a bit of a rebel growing up. Our second son fits this definition. He learned many of his lessons the hardest possible way. We’d tell him he couldn’t do something, and he’d find some method to accomplish the unlikely. And that only begins to tell Jay’s story.

Now just past 40, he needed to increase the living space for his growing family. Living in Southern California, real estate is prohibitive for normal mortals, so he had to find a bargain, and he did: a rickety 100-year old house on the side of a hill, not far down the coast from Santa Barbara. He has now spent two years bringing it up to code and making it habitable; doing much of the work himself, and acting as general contractor for the rest. This included everything from strengthening the foundation to replacing the roof, to laying flooring, to new windows to landscaping, and 1,001 other things that today’s codes require.

The core living space is done, but the house is not finished. He is busily making and executing plans for both inside and outside. He does this with no formal training, but he learned some of what he needed to know from summer jobs and the rest from books, and consults with friends; all this while pursuing a demanding career totally unrelated to homebuilding. Basically, he has a vision, and he is going to make it into reality. As someone who barely knows what to do with a hammer, I am amazed and not just a little proud of his grit and determination.

And I am struck as I sit here in his dining room by the similarities between Jay’s quest and serious stamp collecting. Ignoring the fact that there is not much dirt underneath the fingernails with philately, each of us in philately has a dream. Each of us is substantially self-taught, though we may have had mentors along the way. Each of us recognizes that we will probably not get done every possible project, but we all take pleasure in seeing sometimes slow but steady progress.

Whether it is a complete collection of used U.S., or a perfect house and yard, we all understand that the joy is in the journey far more than in the endpoint. I feel sorry for many of today’s youth; those who are conditioned from the moment they touch their first Game Boy or X-Box controller, to opt for immediate gratification rather than choosing and working toward long-term goals. This is, I think, one of the reasons that stamp collecting does not resonate with young people the way that it used to.

Stamp collecting — and home development — are both about goals for the future. Jay has a part of the house that he is turning into what will be a family activities room. I am developing a new exhibit of a U.S. air mail subject. We are both enjoying mulling over the possibilities, accumulating the raw materials at favorable prices, learning the things we need to know to get it done, and envisioning the payoff when the project is completed; whether it is next year or the year after that.

Both will require an investment of time, knowledge, and money. Both of us will have something of value when we are done, and the satisfaction that we took on a worthy challenge and accomplished it. And we will have enjoyed the process and completing the many small milestones that go to make up a large project.

Remembering the Past:
I am a long-time fan of the monthly Guideposts magazine that my parents introduced me to many moons ago. I would describe it as a non-denominational group of stories from people who describe faith in action in their lives, and I never fail to find at least one story that resonates clearly with my experience.

I was reading the January 2012 issue and came across an article titled “This Way to Memory Lane” by Edward Hoffman. The header drew me in with “It may be unhealthy to dwell on the past. But science has discovered that nostalgia itself is good for us.” If stamp collectors are anything, we are (to coin a word) “nostalgiacs:” people who are constantly returning through stamps to the events of our past illustrated on stamps, and even to the stamps themselves that we remember as we grew up.

I have maintained for years that stamp collecting is both satisfying and good for us in terms of physical and mental health. This Guideposts article provides further evidence, summed up in this paragraph:

“Today, technological and social change happens at a rapid pace, work and travel take us farther from home than ever before, and new information bombards us constantly. It’s easy to feel lost. A high-powered Manhattan executive may get caught up in the rat race, only to catch a scent of horses in Central Park and be reminded of her idyllic beginnings growing up on a Midwest farm. Wherever we find ourselves, nostalgia helps bring us back to our roots, back to the things that are most important.”

That looking back, however brief it may be, is calming. It provides perspective on our disordered world. It allows us to see ourselves not only in the present, but as we were before life wore down our hopes and dreams and expectations, while it also taught us lessons, and gave us more understanding. I think people tend to judge themselves harshly in the present, to mourn for the ideals we think we should have reached: the things we don’t have, have not accomplished, loves lost. Somehow, nostalgia brings us back to a more realistic, a more humble, view of what we have become; thus the calming and even less self judgmental effect.

Playing with stamps gives us a regular dose of nostalgia; especially so if we had an introduction to philately as a child; just one more of the hobby’s many benefits.

Should you wish to comment on this editorial, or have questions or ideas you would like to have explored in a future column, please write to John Hotchner, VSC Contributor, P.O. Box 1125, Falls Church, VA 22041-0125, or email, putting “VSC” in the subject line.

Or comment right here.