Please Help Research Into Popularity Of Stamp Collecting

"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!"

I hope you are right. But there is a big diffrence between trying to get boys intrested, and twenty years ago, when every issue of Boys Life and Cricket carried dozens of ads for stamp dealers, becuase that is where the customers were

What draws people in varies from person to person, but you will find that commonly it is a love of geography, history, learning about other cultures, as well as a collecting bug that has an obsessive element to it. As a 40 year old woman with a young family, I am not in the typical demographic, but the internet makes it possible for me to participate in the hobby. It also makes it a more social hobby. I have this forum on my tabs bar along with my email and Facebook. I regard it I suppose as a social networking site.

And as a design student I would suggest you take a few minutes in your research to really look at some stamps from around the world. Every stamp is a piece of mini graphic design, some good, some not-so-good, each is representing an event, a culture, a person, a message. Take a look, you might find it interesting youself!

Stampgal, FACEBOOK ! ? .

I was sure that collectors were beyond that 'Hi, this is me world'.

Finches, I never thought I would belong to an online forum OR facebook. An online hobby forum? All those geeks?

But then, here I am, emoticons and all...

Back to the topic, I was thinking about efforts to get young people into the hobby, and one approach that seems to be popular is to go down the topical route. This means that kids can collect according to their other interests - and with the millions of stamps worldwide, topics can be as narrow or as wide as you like. For instance, firefighters, dinosaurs, animals, space, dancers, storybook characters, to name just a few that kids might be into.

Well I don't know how the hobby is doing among the working poor...but the premier stamp auction houses are doing QUITE well !!

Any of the auction houses I have seen lately, whether omline or not, all show brisk sales from the sheets I get from sold lots etc.

Again I say, the hobby is not dying. It might be going through a transitional period, which it has done in the past. Like any other hobby, it has its ups and downs.

BTW - there are still a few celebrities alive today that collect stamps. Gary Berghoff from M.A.S.H. and Ernest Borgnine to name a couple plus the(past or present?) president Miterant (sp) of France, not a celebrity but certainly high profile.

Another thing I have noticed in the States are ads on tv promoting new coins from the US mint. I can't state for the US since I am Canadian but I am not sure if the USPS pushes stamp issues on tv or not?? In fact, I am not sure if Canada Post does either but have seen promotional ads for new Canadian coins. Maybe the stamp sector should consider more promotional ads (?)

Chimo

Bujutsu