Stamps In A Small Group

I won a Facebook auction near Christmas.

In one of the boxes, I found a few bags with stamp bundles. Not sure what this is for, as I have never seen it done this way before. They are all the same in each bundle.

This is quite common practice with very common stamps. Collectors may buy such bundles to look for varieties, It appears fly-specking is very popular in Canada. It, also, is interesting to collectors of cancellations.

Known in the trade as "bundleware". My idea of philatelic hell, but, as NSK says, there's a market for this.

There is also a market outside of stamp collectors, for crafting and collages (see Etsy).

I've always wondered if the threads or rubber bands damage the stamps. Sometimes one sees a picture of a very tightly wrapped bundle.

As I recall, in the 1970s or 80s there was a Yugoslavian or Czechoslovakian who had managed to accumulate 1 million stamps in bundles. When the article appeared the collector stated he was starting on his second million

Back around 1988, over 30,000 US bundleware stamps came my way. With a career and family life going full tilt, I had little time to fuss with them. But there were significant numbers of 1908-1922 W/F stamps in the hoard. Each bundle was first wrapped manila paper and then tied closed with thread.

Once I got into them, I quickly realized they were all trash. The threads did no damage, but the manila paper has severely toned every single stamp, many even to the point of being brittle.
Don

Thank you all for the replies and information. Now I know what I am looking at as I sort through the few boxes I won. They said mixed world, so I guess a few treats as well. Last week I found some cover envelopes. Let's see what else I find.