Stamp Collecting future?

One long prescribed approach to assure the future of stamp collecting is
to introduce stamp collecting to youth (generally ages 5-12), realize
that by age 13 their attention will turn to the opposite sex or other
"in" things, but hope that after eventual marriage and having kids, they
will want to pass their old collection and interest in philately to
their kids. Then, after retirement, the parent will return to the hobby
in a more serious way.

My good friend and recent candidate for APS president -- Nancy Clark --
goes a step further. She is a strong believer that introducing young
collectors to philatelic exhibiting -- generally one frame (or 16 pages)
-- is an even effective way to seriously promote the hobby. And, I think
she is probably correct in many instances.

My conclusion is that all hobbies--and all voluntary organizations (such
as stamp clubs)--face demographic realities. We are all growing older
(thank goodness, as compared to the alternative), and there is
tremendous competition on our time for organized activities.

Obviously, youth ultimately are important to the future of many hobbies
or organizations. For example, imagine baseball, basketball, hockey,
soccer, or any other sport surviving if young people have no interest in
participating. But, youth socialization is not always essential. Look at
the hobby of antique collecting, which I would guess has no youth
program. Fine art would be another example. So, philately may need to
gear its drive for new collectors to an older audience (while in no way
forgetting young people or teachers).

Personally, I think the most likely audience for philately is not
"fly-speck" collectors but rather non-philatelists with other interests.
That is to say, I believe critical to the future of our hobby is
attracting non-philatelists to topical collecting.

In June, I attended the first-day-of-issue ceremonies on Tybee Island,
Georgia, for the five Southeastern Lighthouse stamps issued by the U.S.
Postal Service. There were lighthouse buffs who drove or flew in from
across the U.S. to be there for the ceremonies and to get first-day
cancellations.

Lovers of cats, dogs, horses, trains, dolls, etc. are one potential and
critical market to expand. At work, I introduced a butterfly lover to
butterflies on stamps--and now she has many framed and mounted on the
walls of her office. Actually, most newly issued stamps fit into a
topical theme--so I think this is one important target for the future of
philately.

Relatedly, making sure various non-philatelic organizations know about
first-day-of-issue ceremonies for new stamps related to the interest of
those organizations will be a good way to introduce their members to
philately. As another friend--APS secretary Lloyd de Vries--can
undoubtedly attest, many people are introduced and attracted to
philately through creating and collecting first-day-of-issue covers.

Ed Jackson

Tracy Barber wrote:

On Mon, 3 Nov 2003 14:10:04 -0500, "Doug Spade"
wrote:

"Dave" wrote in message
. ..

snip

Young people just aren't interested.

Dave (just an opinion & I have many of them too)


While it may seem that way in your area, I'm not sure it applies everywhere.
I still read of requests for stamps for use in school classes and glowing
descriptions of the interest that kids have.

This is one of the reasons our club would like to use the mid school.
Our Pres thinks that several of the more learned members would be happy
to do displays and talks to the kids stamps and history. Kind of a
jooint thing, plus it might just make a new stamp collector.

Bob Ingraham wrote:

snipped

What a change 50 years has brought! Chinese men were essentially treated
like work animals early in British Columbia's history, and for many years
were required to pay a head tax to deter immigration. Not until 1949 were
Chinese allowed to vote in provincial elections.

Funny thing about those old laws, my mom told me recently that the
property she and my dad bought for our home in 1948, about 10 miles
north of Seattle, has a condition that they never sell the land to a
'...person of color.' Thats one of the old things I don't mind seeing
go bye bye.

Grandpa wrote:
Doug Spade wrote:

"Grandpa" jsdebooATcomcast.net wrote in message

been to 2 of them. Of the other 2 clubs, I'm told one is in a Sr Center
and they don't allow people under 55 so no kids go there - kindas dumb
but thats their rule. I'm told it has a very active membership too.


What kind of crazy senior centers do you have, anyway? Is somebody standing
at the door to card people who come in? Sheesh! If they get state or
federal funding, I can't believe they can continue that policy and get away
with it. Or are they privately owned/operated?


City funded and operated, but I'm sure there are some form of Fed or St
funds involved too - theres gotta be - and check this out, unless you
are ALSO a member of any of the Senior Centers here, you are not allowed
to attend that one clubs meetings, plus of course you have to be a
member of that club. Having recently retired from City employment of 28
years I can vouch for them doing some really funky stuff. I'm
suspecting this may be a rule of that particular center though. Not a
place I care to go to though, not with that attitude.

Well, senior center are for *seniors*, after all. If this club wants to
include younger folk, then they should find somewhere else to meet.

= Eric (not yet a senior)

"Grandpa" jsdebooATcomcast.net wrote in message
...
Doug Spade wrote:

"Grandpa" jsdebooATcomcast.net wrote in message

been to 2 of them. Of the other 2 clubs, I'm told one is in a Sr Center
and they don't allow people under 55 so no kids go there - kindas dumb
but thats their rule. I'm told it has a very active membership too.

What kind of crazy senior centers do you have, anyway? Is somebody
standing
at the door to card people who come in? Sheesh! If they get state or
federal funding, I can't believe they can continue that policy and get
away
with it. Or are they privately owned/operated?

City funded and operated, but I'm sure there are some form of Fed or St
funds involved too - theres gotta be - and check this out, unless you
are ALSO a member of any of the Senior Centers here, you are not allowed
to attend that one clubs meetings, plus of course you have to be a
member of that club. Having recently retired from City employment of 28
years I can vouch for them doing some really funky stuff. I'm
suspecting this may be a rule of that particular center though. Not a
place I care to go to though, not with that attitude.

I don't know how things work in the big city, but there's *got* to be a
good
place for people of all ages to gather for a stamp club meeting. Maybe
a
library meeting room would be available?

Our City has teamed up with our school system and they encourage using
the schools as community centers. City funds then pay for a number of
amenities, plus the wage of someone to oversee the mtg area and keep the
school open until the mtgs are over. Our club is looking into moving
from the Church they are now at to the middle School my wife works at
for mtgs. They have all sorts of clubs mtg there, incl wome real space
cadets (no pun intended) at the weekly SciFi club.


Well, I'm not aware of any stamp clubs in my community, but we have a very
nice Senior Center which is owned by the city and run by our county's
Department on Aging. The center director is a very good friend who welcomes
people of all ages, all the time. But then she's a pretty progressive
thinker who knows that the young and young at heart help keep those who are
up in years young as well. Our Department on Aging Director would encourage
the same type of thinking at the other senior centers around the county, as
would the center directors in those places, too. Sounds like some people in
Albuquerque need to get out of the 18th and into the 19th century! (Moving
into the 21st might be too much, too quickly for those folks!)

Mike

From: Grandpa jsdebooATcomcast.net
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 17:54:03 -0700
Subject: Stamp Collecting future?

Tracy Barber wrote:

On Mon, 3 Nov 2003 14:10:04 -0500, "Doug Spade"
wrote:

"Dave" wrote in message
...

snip

Young people just aren't interested.

Dave (just an opinion & I have many of them too)


While it may seem that way in your area, I'm not sure it applies everywhere.
I still read of requests for stamps for use in school classes and glowing
descriptions of the interest that kids have.

This is one of the reasons our club would like to use the mid school.
Our Pres thinks that several of the more learned members would be happy
to do displays and talks to the kids stamps and history. Kind of a
jooint thing, plus it might just make a new stamp collector.

Depending on the jurisdiction, of course, this might be an opportunity to
promote stamp collecting or a complete waste of time.

In British Columbia, the provincial government has pared education spending
not just to the bone, but deep into the bone, and seriously impaired the
teachers' ability to teach outside the curricular box. There just isn't time
in the average classroom to teach more than what is required, and there is
virtually no extracurricular time. In fact, many teachers are refusing to
sponsor any extracurricular activities. I quit teaching just before the
worst of these things happened; I could easily start teaching again if I
wanted to, but there is *nothing* that could induce me to do that.

When I was still living in Prince George, I approached a former colleague to
see if he would be interested in using stamps in his social studies program
at the grade 7 level. He just shook his head sadly, and said that he hardly
had time to do what he had to do, much less introduce anything that did not
fit strictly within the confines of the curriculum.

Bob

On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 23:20:55 GMT, Bob Ingraham
wrote:

From: (Tracy Barber)
Organization: The Kidz
Reply-To:
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 22:28:47 GMT
Subject: Stamp Collecting future?

On Mon, 3 Nov 2003 16:00:17 -0500, "Doug Spade"
wrote:

snip

What kind of crazy senior centers do you have, anyway? Is somebody standing
at the door to card people who come in? Sheesh! If they get state or
federal funding, I can't believe they can continue that policy and get away
with it. Or are they privately owned/operated?

I don't know how things work in the big city, but there's *got* to be a good
place for people of all ages to gather for a stamp club meeting. Maybe a
library meeting room would be available?

For instance, there's one in the Colonie Town Library, outside of
Albany, N.Y.

When access to said clubs is governed by tights rules and regs, no
wonder others lose interest, unless they are of the lobbying type.

Some stamp clubs may be of the upper crusty type, but they are few and
far between... Or are they?

Tracy Barber

Another Vancouver-area stamp club is the 21 Club, which has been around for
years.

The "21" means that the membership limit is 21, although I am also told
that this rule has been broken on occasion.

You have to be invited to join, and among those who are never invited are
women. When a well-respected female collector tried to join, and was
rejected, one of their own members quit in disgust.

Curiously, some of their members are also very active members of my own
stamp club, but I fail to understand why any thinking person today can
support a club which is so obviously out of step with the times. I guess
old-cronyism has always been with us and always will.

Which, by the way, seems to permeate much of the "old" statistical
thinking out there still.

Tracy Barber

On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 17:54:03 -0700, Grandpa jsdebooATcomcast.net
wrote:

Tracy Barber wrote:

On Mon, 3 Nov 2003 14:10:04 -0500, "Doug Spade"
wrote:

"Dave" wrote in message
...

snip

Young people just aren't interested.

Dave (just an opinion & I have many of them too)


While it may seem that way in your area, I'm not sure it applies everywhere.
I still read of requests for stamps for use in school classes and glowing
descriptions of the interest that kids have.

This is one of the reasons our club would like to use the mid school.
Our Pres thinks that several of the more learned members would be happy
to do displays and talks to the kids stamps and history. Kind of a
jooint thing, plus it might just make a new stamp collector.

Yuppers. Not required for any stamp collector, but i sure as heck may
broaden someone's horizon.

I have done many seminars, taught professionally, have done much
public speaking and it's a blast most times.

I have yet, though, to do a stamp topic! Give it time. :^)

Wanna send me a fare from Albuquerque to Albany? I'll cruise down
sometime!

I always wanted to know where Bugs took the wrong turn. :^P

Tracy Barber

On Mon, 03 Nov 2003 19:53:14 -0500, Ed Jackson
wrote:

One long prescribed approach to assure the future of stamp collecting is
to introduce stamp collecting to youth (generally ages 5-12), realize
that by age 13 their attention will turn to the opposite sex or other
"in" things, but hope that after eventual marriage and having kids, they
will want to pass their old collection and interest in philately to
their kids. Then, after retirement, the parent will return to the hobby
in a more serious way.

My good friend and recent candidate for APS president -- Nancy Clark --
goes a step further. She is a strong believer that introducing young
collectors to philatelic exhibiting -- generally one frame (or 16 pages)
-- is an even effective way to seriously promote the hobby. And, I think
she is probably correct in many instances.

My conclusion is that all hobbies--and all voluntary organizations (such
as stamp clubs)--face demographic realities. We are all growing older
(thank goodness, as compared to the alternative), and there is
tremendous competition on our time for organized activities.

Obviously, youth ultimately are important to the future of many hobbies
or organizations. For example, imagine baseball, basketball, hockey,
soccer, or any other sport surviving if young people have no interest in
participating. But, youth socialization is not always essential. Look at
the hobby of antique collecting, which I would guess has no youth
program. Fine art would be another example. So, philately may need to
gear its drive for new collectors to an older audience (while in no way
forgetting young people or teachers).

Personally, I think the most likely audience for philately is not
"fly-speck" collectors but rather non-philatelists with other interests.
That is to say, I believe critical to the future of our hobby is
attracting non-philatelists to topical collecting.

In June, I attended the first-day-of-issue ceremonies on Tybee Island,
Georgia, for the five Southeastern Lighthouse stamps issued by the U.S.
Postal Service. There were lighthouse buffs who drove or flew in from
across the U.S. to be there for the ceremonies and to get first-day
cancellations.

Lovers of cats, dogs, horses, trains, dolls, etc. are one potential and
critical market to expand. At work, I introduced a butterfly lover to
butterflies on stamps--and now she has many framed and mounted on the
walls of her office. Actually, most newly issued stamps fit into a
topical theme--so I think this is one important target for the future of
philately.

Relatedly, making sure various non-philatelic organizations know about
first-day-of-issue ceremonies for new stamps related to the interest of
those organizations will be a good way to introduce their members to
philately. As another friend--APS secretary Lloyd de Vries--can
undoubtedly attest, many people are introduced and attracted to
philately through creating and collecting first-day-of-issue covers.

Corresponding with someone in China, he told me that the school where
one of his children are in will be introducing stamp collecting as a
regular class. Geography, History, topics abound...

Tracy Barber

On Tue, 04 Nov 2003 02:56:41 GMT, Bob Ingraham
wrote:



From: Grandpa jsdebooATcomcast.net
Newsgroups: rec.collecting.stamps.discuss
Date: Mon, 03 Nov 2003 17:54:03 -0700
Subject: Stamp Collecting future?

Tracy Barber wrote:

On Mon, 3 Nov 2003 14:10:04 -0500, "Doug Spade"
wrote:

"Dave" wrote in message
...

snip

Young people just aren't interested.

Dave (just an opinion & I have many of them too)


While it may seem that way in your area, I'm not sure it applies everywhere.
I still read of requests for stamps for use in school classes and glowing
descriptions of the interest that kids have.

This is one of the reasons our club would like to use the mid school.
Our Pres thinks that several of the more learned members would be happy
to do displays and talks to the kids stamps and history. Kind of a
jooint thing, plus it might just make a new stamp collector.

Depending on the jurisdiction, of course, this might be an opportunity to
promote stamp collecting or a complete waste of time.

In British Columbia, the provincial government has pared education spending
not just to the bone, but deep into the bone, and seriously impaired the
teachers' ability to teach outside the curricular box. There just isn't time
in the average classroom to teach more than what is required, and there is
virtually no extracurricular time. In fact, many teachers are refusing to
sponsor any extracurricular activities. I quit teaching just before the
worst of these things happened; I could easily start teaching again if I
wanted to, but there is *nothing* that could induce me to do that.

When I was still living in Prince George, I approached a former colleague to
see if he would be interested in using stamps in his social studies program
at the grade 7 level. He just shook his head sadly, and said that he hardly
had time to do what he had to do, much less introduce anything that did not
fit strictly within the confines of the curriculum.

The staff that doesn't allow its teacher to think and teach outside of
the box has a serious problem, IMO.

Tracy Barber