Stamp Collecting Is A Fun Geography Lesson...

This old dog still can learn after all! I dug out my son's globe from the early 1980's to start to locate some of these countries. (Yes, I still had the globe! Until recently I still had all their He-Man toys and castles,too) Anyway, I try in my head to "guess" where the countries are that I am not familiar with--very often, I am wrong. For instance, take Togo. Some beautiful stamps from that country! I guessed South America--I was wrong--it's Africa--close to Nigeria. I challenge those of you who are Newbies like me to also get out a world map or globe and check out where these countries are. Knowledge is wonderful!

Gussyboy1

Gussy.....

Since beginning collecting back in the 50's I have had a world map on a wall somewhere in every home I've lived in. Just recently, Sara suggested we move her hutch to make room for a new map ! I even have a small collection of geography books dating back to the 1890's. It's amazing to chart the changes of borders and new countries worldwide over the last century. Africa has gone through the most dramatic changes, going from mostly unexplored territory in the 1920's to the dozens of countries there today.

If you need a new world map most Walmarts carry a decent Rand McNally 31" x 49" for under $10.00

I've been thinking about buying a pin board and a world map to put up on the wall. Then I can stick pins in the countries that I have stamps for.

Steve

Gussy, I have been sending US mint items to my 10 year old grandson down in Virginia. The commemorative issues from 1930 to the 1970's are a good learning tool for his US history. Seems to remember facts better when he can relate them to a picture on a stamp.

There was a news item about Geography and our American high school students fairly recently. Something like 30% or 40% of them couldn't even find the US on a globe.

Maybe we should require stamp collecting for high school freshmen!

Here's an interesting geography/anthropology story from today's news. Would you believe there are about 100 of these culturally pure/un-contacted tribes in existence? I bet they don't issue any stamps!

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/rare-i...0x1200309392

(resurrecting old thread)
Well even in the age of Wikipedia I mess up sometimes thinking I know what continent a country is in. I recently mis-categorized Belize as being in Africa, and am still muddling through complications involving Ceylon/Sri Lanka, Malaysia/Singapore, etc, where the geography lesson slips into a crash course in history.

Back in the 70's that's how I learned about a majority of the countries. I knew more about countries that weren't even being discussed in the classroom. I had the teachers stumped until they checked a globe, encyclopedia, or world map. Guess what I'm buying from Walmart?

BTW: Come back Gussyboy! we miss you.

I've watched the television show "Jeopardy" and was actually able to answer some of their geography questions thanks to my having collected stamps for all these years.

Personally, I like to go through older stamps from countries that no longer exist (under their original name) and see how they have developed through the years.

You are so right Gussy! In my Navy years I travelled all over the world and it has helped me get a bearing on where some of these countries are. There are still dozens of strange stamp issuing countries that I have never heard of though.

I have a nice large Peters Projection map on my office wall. I look at it every day.

KirkS