Near the beginning of the 21st century, a time when the hobby of stamp collecting was being dragged kicking and screaming into the Internet age, there was an article in the philatelic press about a stamp dealer who was offering questionable philatelic material on eBay. It was not just any dealer, as the article breathlessly pointed out, but one who consistently offered about 10 percent of eBay's offerings of 19th and 20th century U.S. stamps. How many stamps did that 10 percent account for? Would you believe about 600 stamp lots per week?

As this is being written -- a little over a decade later -- there are over 36,000 U.S. stamp lots being offered at the online auction site. With so many of varied professionalism selling stamps to collectors on eBay and through other venues, it is important for the collector to find a dealer who thinks not only of making money, but also of the best interests of his buyers.

Well, those of you who tried to find the outhouse stamps in the Q part of our Philatelic Q & A were obviously stumped...or didn't want to touch the challenge with a ten foot pole. Anyway, the  two stamps that contain images of the rural American privy are...

and

Perhaps an additional question might have been "Is there any stamp trivia that is too trivial?" But seriously, aren't you relieved to finally have the answer?

(Stamp images © USPOD/USPS)

Barry Landau, the so-called presidential memorabilia super-collector, has pled guilty to stealing historical documents, which may include drafts of FDR speeches, a land grant signed by President Lincoln, a letter from Ben Franklin to John Paul Jones, as well as numerous other items of great import to the United States' culture and heritage.

We all -- as collectors -- have the desire to reach out and touch history. For some it's our raison d'être. Stamps provide us with satisfaction in that regard. But for some, who feel they are touching history second hand, it is not enough. Stamp collectors know that they are temporary curators of philatelic material. One way or another, it will be passed down through history, either to family or another collector.

Merely being the possessor of such important historical material as that which Landau coveted and stole makes some small people feel bigger. Landau appears to be one of those. And in fact, now that there is DNA authentication of collectibles, there is an intangible lure of making yourself a part of a great person, through something that holds their very essence.

But you can't steal your way to immortality. Or rather, you can, although you will be remembered as notorious, not famous. Or as one of those who worked at a library Landau ripped off expressed, via hand-held sign outside the courthouse where the hearing was taking place: "You can't steal history."

(Illustration: Philatelic cover commemorating Franklin Delano Roosevelt's inauguration, 1933. From the collection of the author.)

"The collector is in reality the stamp market. It is he, for whatever irrational reasons, who buys this otherwise worthless piece of paper and puts it in an album never to sell it until dotage or death. One group of market analysts watches the larger stamp dealers, who sell primarily to collectors, to see what they have in short supply-- for it is collector demand that has pruned these dealers' supply. Such items usually go up in price. Theories on how much a particular item will go up once it has begun its move abound; unfortunately, they do not predict much better than chance."

From The World of Stamps & Stamp Collecting by David Lidman and John D. Apfelbaum
Published 1981 by Charles Scribner's Sons