Where Have All the Pint-Sized Collectors Gone?

Staff writer Marilyn Gardner of the Christian Science Monitor reports, "Angela Watson remembers the pleasure of childhood stamp collecting. Whenever friends and family gave her stamps, especially from foreign countries, she would study them. Then she would turn to the Encyclopedia Britannica for more information."

Angela is quoted in an article titled Where Have All the Pint-Sized Collectors Gone? as saying, "Stamps provided a large part of my education in history, geography, science, and nature."

According to the paper, "Today far fewer youngsters are involved in the traditional 'big three'of children's collecting – stamps, coins, and sports cards."

Will Seippel, a father of five and CEO of WorthPoint, a database for collectibles is also quoted...

"Kids used to collect stamps because it was a glimpse into a world you couldn't see just by turning on a computer [as they can today]. If you were growing up in Baltimore, a stamp was a way to see Cameroon. Today there's not the primary lure of the distant land."

Gary Sohmers of Framingham, Mass., who appraises collectibles for the Antiques Roadshow on PBS points out in the piece "that collecting teaches children about maintaining objects and sharing their collections with friends and family. It also offers lessons in fair trading."

Shown above, a 1955 semi-postal (SC B296) from Austria picturing a young collector. Funds from the sale of the stamp went to promote philately in Austria.

To read the entire article, click here.