Philatelists had something to write home about Saturday when the Brantford Stamp Club’s annual show returned after a two-year absence.
Eleven-year-old Elliot Sim dug through shoeboxes brimming with thousands of free postage stamps offered to children at the club’s youth booth.
“I’m looking for sport stamps, especially soccer,” said Elliot.
Dad Ryan Sim said he was about his son’s age when he started dabbling in philately, the hobby of stamp collecting.
“I’ve always been into Canadian stamps. It’s a way to learn about your country and about history. It’s like traveling the world from the comfort of your home.”
For 85 years, since the first meeting in 1938 at the YMCA building, the Brantford Stamp Club has been promoting stamp study and collecting. It has been one of the most popular hobbies since the late 19th century with the rapid growth of the postal services, as a never-ending stream of new stamps was produced by countries advertising their distinctiveness.
Types of philately are endless. Some people focus on a stamp’s design process, paper, printing methods, overprints or fakes and forgeries. Others are more interested in age and condition or what’s depicted on stamps – people, maps, birds, insects, ships, animals, birds, airplanes – and countless other subject matter.
For others it’s the rarity of the stamp that’s important, or the country that issued it.
Bill Longley of Waterdown, one of about a dozen dealers at the Brantford stamp show, specializes in postal history, which focuses on the use of stamps on mail. It includes the study of postmarks, post offices, and the process by which letters are moved from sender to recipient.
“It tells the story of the letter’s travel by airplane, steamboat, stagecoach, dog sled, balloon,” said Longley who had dozens of boxes packed with historic “covers” (envelopes).
While the markings on each envelope tell their own travel tale, sometimes there’s also a prize inside. Longley said letters dating back to the fur trade and the American Revolutionary War, including one penned by Benedict Arnold – have been discovered by collectors.
Among Longley’s offerings at the Brantford stamp show was an envelope sent to a Quebec destination from Fort Detroit during the Revolutionary War. The original cost to mail it was a few cents. The historical treasure was selling for $2,500 at Longley’s booth.
Simon Claughton of Mississauga, one of hundreds of show visitors, focuses his cover collection on places he has lived. Through his father’s work the family moved far and frequently – to Bolivia, Venezuela, Panama, Mexico and every Canadian province.
“The most ugly cover tell the most because it has so many markings on it,” said Claughton. “There can be a dozen redirects. One cover can tell a 20-minute story.”
Frank Hoyles, a dealer from Blenheim, sells a full line of stamps from every country in the world, along with historical postcards and envelopes.
He finds much of his expansive inventory at private estate sales, along with auctions and purchases from other dealers.
“I love it when people are thrilled to find the stuff they’ve been looking for,” said Hoyles. “I want to see the smiles on people’s faces.”
Bob Anderson, president of the Brantford Stamp Club and co-chair of the show, specializes in Brant County town postmarks – at one time there were more than 40. An exhibit of his philatelic material has earned him gold medals.
The Brantford Stamp Club has about 40 members who meet regularly at the Branlyn Community Centre. Anderson said they’re always looking for new members. For more information, go to brantfordstampclub.com