The Stamp Collecting Report
A radio feature by Lloyd de Vries

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Alone or With Others?

The Stamp Collecting Report. I’m Lloyd de Vries.

One thing we learned during the pandemic: Stamp Collecting is a hobby that can be done all by yourself or in a group, as a solitary pursuit or a social event.

You can sort and put away your stamps and related materials at any hour of the day or night, whether you’re in quarantine or just coming home from work late at night. But you can also get together with fellow collectors to buy, sell and trade stamps, give and get advice or just trade stories. There are “stamp shows,” as they’re called, almost every weekend of the year. Some are just a small collection of dealers in what’s called a “bourse.” Others are much more elaborate affairs, with not only dealers, but meetings, seminars, and food functions. Sometimes a new stamp will go on sale, too. There are also clubs in many areas. We’ve got links at virtual-stamp-club-dot-com.

One other thing we learned: Stamp collecting adapted quite nicely to the online meeting technology. For a year or so, it was almost the only way we could get together. But online meetings also make it easier to show your most interesting stamps to others attending the session. You can see much more on a computer or even a phone screen than something hand-held in the front of a room.

Best of all, you can participate in stamp collecting both by yourself and in a group, often all in the same day.

Stamp collecting weathered two world wars, the Great Influenza Epidemic of 1917, COVID-19 and mass media like radio, television, the movies and the internet. And it’s still going strong.

And that’s stamp collecting for now. I’m Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting, and for that list of links I promised, visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com.

• Linn’s Stamp News Events Search Page
• American Philatelic Society Events Calendar
• APS’ schedule of the top shows in the U.S.
• APS’ search tool for local clubs

The Stamp Collecting Report began in 1997 as a 60-second weekly feature distributed to CBS Radio Network stations by CBS News as part of its Weekend Feature Package. Eventually, longer versions were recorded for this website and a Christian evangelical shortwave service. The Report ended its CBS run in 2017 with only six repeats in some 1,040 weeks. It is now produced solely for The Virtual Stamp Club on an occasional basis.

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