Please Help Research Into Popularity Of Stamp Collecting

well, Joe. As you can see, we have FUN!

Keeps the mind sharp

Funny, before I saw Bujutsus post I was thinking...Leave me and my stamps alone and I will not bother anyone ! Joe there are closet collectors who do not advertise the fact that they collect stamps..i see them at stamp shows..you can spot them....others like myself enjoy the company of our own kind and enjoy attending club meetings !

I'm 45 and have never grown up. I still collect baseball cards as well. Those have been kind of put on the back burner while I get back into stamps. I'm sure at some point, the stamps will be set aside for a while and I'll do something else. Just my personality (disorder) that's always had me collecting or accumulating something since I was very young.

A lot of the attraction of stamps( and my other interests) for me are the memories of being a child when times were easy and care free. I don't get that in the real world and my various hobbies put me in that spot. last year, I even got into model trains (N scale) for the first time in my life since I had always wanted to have a nice train layout. My kitten ate most of it so I didn't have much choice but to put the rest away until she gets older. Anyway, being an adult collector with a decent job now allows me to see and buy a lot of the stamps I dreamed of having when I was between the ages of 8-12

Just a bit of input for you to think about. The average age of collectors is something that has interested me over the years.

Late 1990's and early 2000's. 60+

As more people found stamping on line mid to late 2000's 50+

As we reach into the 2010's the internet stamper rules 40+

On line stamping saves our hobby and in my opinion it is heading into boom time.

Have noticed that a lot of Ladies are enjoying the hobby of the Kings and Queens.

The American Philatelic Society has just started a nation-wide program using stamps in the classroom.
It is called "Stamps Teach."

Joe.stoned.1, Hello young Joe, and Merry Christmas.
If you'd edit out the word 'NOT' from Question 1, your brief WOULD have credibility and may end up spot on. IMO.

As you can read on the Internet 25 million stamp collectors in the USA alone, 200 million world wide, and increasing.

thanks for your comments guys, they have been really helpful

JOE------You got a lot of good answers above from the posters of this board and I can relate to those answers .Let me throw a new idea out here and it may sound out of line but im going to put it out for you . -------Every mental health professional would agree with me and also most people who study religion would agree . A Person needs "QUIET TIME " this is a time when healthy people ,shut out the world around them and stop the daily grind ,this is not sport time or T.V. time {with its fast pace of action} ,this is time to really stop your activity and do something of no pressure . Yoga is a poplar action of quiet time . I grew up in a family of nine brothers and sisters ,there was always noise around the house and I found as a young child of 6 or 7 ,the quiet time of my stamp collection took me away from that house full of kids to a dream world of my own . As life when on into Rock-n-Roll and street gangs ,I always when back to my stamps as a quiet and peaceful time . As years when by and got involued with the fast pace of trading the commodities markets and later the Futures Markets ,I always went back to that sitting alone and working on my stamps.So as you can see there is a spirtual side to collecting and the value of "QUIET TIME" ,hope this helps your study or was I just flying off the handle .

with floortrader about the quiet time aspect. Even though you do not usually start out with the quiet time as a goal in your stamp collecting, it happens, and when you start to realize it then it becomes something you can recognize and enjoy for it's own sake.

Many hours, night or day, have been spent on my stamp collection.

I have never looked back about starting this hobby.I feel that the time spent with it has been very rewarding, for the stamps that are in my collection plus the research and the way I have expanded out into other fields.

I have heard on different occasions that those of use who collect stamps have a better grasp of geography and history in general. I believe this to be very true.

It has also been referred to as the 'hobby of kings, and the king of hobbies'.

I also have noticed that more people in their 40s and up are beginning to collect stamps as a form of relaxation from their jobs etc.

I have seen publications dating back 40 years that have stated that stamp collecting is in decline and that it may become a dead hobby. This is untrue and not accurate at all. Forty plus years have passed and it is still a popular hobby. Also take a look at the auction houses today and you will see that bidding is brisk in all areas.

My two cents worth anyway.

Chimo

Bujutsu

If they were never there they will not understand !!

"I have seen publications dating back 40 years that have stated that stamp collecting is in decline and that it may become a dead hobby. This is untrue and not accurate at all. Forty plus years have passed and it is still a popular hobby. Also take a look at the auction houses today and you will see that bidding is brisk in all areas."

I have to disagree with the statements above. Look at APS membership, or Linns Subscriptions. Both down from the late 1980's by a lot. How many match boxes offer approvals. How many ads are there in boys magazines for stamps? Is there ANY yardstick by which on can show that the hobby is growing?

In the latest issue of Boy's Life (December), which is put out by the Boy Scouts of America, there is a 2 page spread on earning badges that have to do with collecting. The stamp collecting merit badge is mentioned.

It's not an ad, but, maybe it will get some boys interested!