A World Of Stamps

It was my pleasure to meet Allan a few days back at the best little library in the world, Melbourne City Library. Upstairs in the study room, I had popped in to make sense of many bits of paper I had collected that day, quietly settling when I noticed a man next to me going through a tin of old stamps. When I say going through, I mean meticulously selecting, examining and placing each stamp into the folder pages that lay on the table in front of him. We chatted and he enthusiastically told me some interesting details about the world of stamps. The tin on the table had stamps dated at 1892, mostly German and if you look at the top left hand corner, third row down, there is one of Hitler. Allan explained the meaning of a mint stamp, that some stamps are hinged and some are unhinged, pointed out the date details and another fascinating thing called restamping. A restamped stamp occurs when resources are tight, (a war for instance), the answer being to simply take an existing stamp and print on top of it, which makes perfect sense. It is a lesson for today in a world where reuse needs to be standard. History is important, and the world of stamps can teach anyone a lot. If you are interested in finding out more, be sure to visit Max, in the Port Phillip Arcade, up the road from the library, he has a collection as big as big, from travels all over the world. After this chance meeting, I'm full of wow, thanks Allan for sharing your time and passion for stamps, a treasured moment.

SUGARBEE XX   22/02/13