Pursuits inspired me to share my own stamp collecting story. John started with Discovery then Ambassador albums. For me, it was the red-covered beginner Harris Traveler album. When my brother, sister and I gathered around the dining room table with our dad when our age was still in single digits, it was time to 'work stamps' as he always called it. Each of our identical Traveler albums retailed for less than $3 at the time, and provided us with a good-enough album for kids' collections.
Where did we get our stamps from? Letters. My mom
began writing to several penpals when she was
younger. These ties were maintained by mail until they
were all seniors! She maintained this mnemonic to
remind her to correspond with all seven equally: P L U
G H Mo Mi: Pauline, Louise, Unni, Gladys, Helga,
Monique and Michele. Respectively, their countries
were Australia, UK, Norway, Australia, Germany,
Switzerland and Luxembourg. Imagine real postally-
used stamps from each of these countries arriving in
our mail every month or two! In return, my mom used
several new Canadian issues to make up the air mail
rate and to share elements of our country abroad. My
dad was also a faithful correspondent to family
members in the US and Canada for many years.
As a tweenager, I sent off coupons to those advertised
approval houses. First, the company sent you the sets
of fantastical CTO stamps to see if you were good for
the money, then the nicer and better stamps would
arrive in time. A few school friends and I traded very
basic stamps at recess and after school.
On Saturday mornings, we visited Kingston's own
stamp store on Brock Street: G. H. McIntyre, later
McIntyre & Meiboom. The store had a rarefied but
smoky atmosphere. On one side, a customer counter
with stools where we perused various binders of
stamps for purchase. My realm was the 2¢, 4¢ and 6¢
books. The other wall displayed albums and in the
middle of the store there were boxes of coins to paw
through. A back room behind the cash register counter
was where 'the good stuff' was likely kept for
safekeeping. A kid like me could walk out of there with
my dad and an envelope of attractive stamps for just a
few dollars.
After getting married and starting a family, I worked on
my collection occasionally. Once our kids were older,
I continued ordering the new Canada Post issues as my
dad had done for us for many years. This eventually
became rather expensive, with FDCs that were 50¢
jumping to $1.50! It was then that I got inspired to
explore the world of exchanges and swaps.
I maintained a few loyal traders in Italy, UK, the US and
Australia and began receiving and sending back
Forever Stamp exchange forms that held the promise of
hundreds of stamps arriving in my mailbox. Well,
sometimes. Lots of the exchange participants didn't
follow the instructions!
The loyal traders added to my growing accumulation
but their stamps went into baggies for some time. After
retiring at age 55, I had time to really get to work – to
move from being a stamp accumulator back to my
roots as a stamp collector.
I also joined the North Toronto Stamp Club three years
ago, and I've really enjoyed being a participant in the
club stamp circuits by mail. What a great way to have
stamps arrive right here at home, and the gift of picking
the ones I want! My thanks to the club members who
maintain this service. Even those of us not living in
Toronto can belong and participate.
During and since the pandemic, exchanges and circuits were a safe way
to collect. I also began watching YouTube videos from
fellow collectors like Silk On The Web. As a blogger,
of course I started a stamp blog called, what else,
'Working Stamps'.
I also joined the International Society of Worldwide
Stamp Collectors, and enjoy their periodic stamp
circuit arrivals right here in my mailbox. With the end
of home delivery on the horizon within five years, I am
already planning my Monday-Wednesday-Friday
visits to our yet-to-be-installed Super Mailbox!
The backbone of my worldwide collection has always
been certain countries that I like to collect, while
keeping an open mind and an eye out for stamps that
appeal to me visually, especially British
Commonwealth, with my dad's advice to me still
echoing, "You can't go wrong with 'British Colonials'!"
Of course I outgrew that first basic Traveler album over
the years. I now maintain country albums for Brazil,
Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Malta, the
Netherlands, Scandinavia, South Africa, Switzerland,
the UK, US, and my favourite – the colourful West
Indies. For each country album, I have found what
works best for me: a one- or two-inch D-ring binder
with display covers. I create my own covers and spine,
which I slide into the clear covers to personalize the
albums. For pages, I print my own using a grid I
created, with a custom title at the top (Figure 1). This
allows me to print as many pages as I need when
working on a given country's stamps.
Coming full circle, despite these burgeoning country albums, I cling to my early collecting memories through my original Harris Traveler album. That red cover still attractive and welcoming to me, I have also outgrown just one Traveler. I now have five with two in reserve! I found these at local stamp shows, the latest one bought (along with an Ambassador album, John!)
from Roy Houtby at BNAPEX in August 2024. All four subsequent Traveler albums were purchased for just over the original purchase price my Dad would have paid back in the late 1960s!
The above was published in the September 2026 issue of 'Postal Pursuits', the newsletter of the North Toronto Stamp Club. It is reproduced here as a thumbnail history of not only how I collect but also my stamp collecting journey.
