A dealer friend of mine (and let's face it, if you're a stamp collector you should be friends with at least one dealer, hopefully more, so you can keep up on the direction the philatelic winds are blowing) insists that younger people continue to enter the hobby. But they are not collecting like the old timers, who poured over their albums in quiet seclusion. Rather, they are getting out there and being involved in the stamp collecting world at an active level.
I have seen stamp collecting groups and clubs revitalized by new blood, younger members who shoulder some of the responsibility of running things, including contributing to newsletters, helping older members with transportation to stamp shows, running for club office and generally putting new life into the club's proceedings.
Still, a hobby like stamp collecting is built upon the past: past stamp issues, covers that traveled through the mails in earlier years, the stamp auction world turning on sales of stamps and collections that once belonged to collectors of an earlier day.
So it seems a good idea that Weston, MA's Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History will be holding Grandparents Month in June. Tailored to the older collectors, there will nevertheless be items and features for younger family members. If you are thinking of going to this or another of the ongoing features and presentations at the Spellman take advantage of the discount coupon available to museum visitors.
The Spellman also offers a program for senior citizens that covers stamp knowledge and trivia, famous stamps, current stamp issuing policies, views of classic stamps and postal objects, as well as other philatleic information of interest.
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