Boston 2026 World Expo

"The social aspect of these shows is very important to some attendees."

You beat me to it. It isn't just about buying stamps for some (myself included).

"Curious, because Boston doesn't need any help attracting tourists but stamp collecting could use new blood."

While we could use new blood, a show at this level is not about attracting new blood.

The decennial show also offers the chance to see exhibits and their objects that otherwise might never be seen in the US, or at least not for years more. If you view the show as a rare and valuable museum pop-up, you have an entirely different reason to go.

Yes Boston 2026 is not really about philately, it is about well off folks picking an area of interest to them to meet to see and be seen by other elites. Some like Cannes with film, others Milan with fashion and yet others Monaco with cars. Slumming in America's Boston seems to work for some too.


Yet to placate the unwashed collector masses, it is offered up as such in a real disingenuous manner claiming to build the hobby.




If that is the case, then why have 10 of the international been in the Eastern Time Zone with only one in Chicago, one time zone over and one in the Pacific Time Zone held in San Francisco. Where is the consideration of diversity and equity for the placement of philatelic material 'so important to see'? Chicago and San Francisco, once every 100 or so years, is far from inclusive. This becomes even more glaring when one understands, after the APS Summer Show, now called GASS, WESTPEX in the SF area, Burlingame, CA, is the biggest philatelic show in the USA?

But Toronto, where Canada holds its Internationals is far less expensive and actually closer to much of the USA. A wise USA philatelic traveler would be better served by that location.




Could that be to recognize selecting a group to handle a show 10 years from now, a group likely to still be alive, is a great challenge.


That too is how I roll at stamp shows, including St. Louis, the focus is the philatelic activities at hand with only periodic adjournments to off site dinner locations, as needed, to continue show, tell and talk.

Edited to fix the quotation script.

It's held on the east coast for one obvious reason. It's closer to Europe. Having it on the west coast doubles the travel distance. Since Asia is so far away anyway, it's less of a concern. And a show like this is always going to favor the rich. The NY show was constantly busy; it remains to be seen how this one does.

The worldwide distribution of collectors interested and able to attend these shows, for all the reasons in prior posts, is biased away from the US West Coast. Local population numbers and overseas visitors have historically combined to make the East Coast the best choice. Recently the RPSL has seen an uptick in members from India and China, so the bias may change over the next 20 years.

If a SF location is so important to you, go ahead and organize a 2036 host committee and plan it. The Golden Gate Bridge centennial is in 2037, and you could celebrate it early. The 130th anniversary of the 1906 firequake probably isn't a good tie-in.

Well, you could use an earthquake commemoration to mount a renewed search for the Plate 77 1d red that seems to have perished then.

That would give me something to do; but alas, the only way I think I would attend a 2036 show in San Francisco would be via urn.

I would think that by 2036 any show would be virtual.

Rog, perfect..just loading up on my NFT stamps now in prep!!

Bah humbug! One of the off-putting things about stamp collecting is the number of old men in it and their infamous crankiness which tends to alienate younger people -- or so I've been told. This thread includes resentment about certain kinds of states and cities, the inevitable criticism of taxes, how expensive it is to travel, insecurities about so-called "elites," nearly the whole spectrum of current political complaining. -- though none of this is actually caused by stamp shows.

Travel is expensive, not stamp shows. If this stamp show was just down the street from where any of us lived, we'd go. It's the cost of travel you're upset about, not stamp shows or the so-called "elites" which I take refers to people with more money and influence who you resent. That's a "you problem," not a stamp collecting problem.

It's true we're not all rich, but a stamp show of any high quality is always in a major city to attract more people -- Paris, London, Tokyo, Prague, Berlin, so why not New York City or Boston or Chicago? There are more people in major cities so more visitors to the show are likely. Yes, these places are more expensive than Schenectady or Walla Walla or Tulsa. What you really want is to have all major stamps shows in your own city.

The idea of these large shows is to attract a wide variety of people, boost the awareness of stamp collecting, offer a chance to socialize with people who enjoy the same hobby you enjoy, to see magnificent collections on display, hold club meetings, and also if there's time to also see some of the sights of that areas of the country. Pretty terrible ideas, right? Holding a worldwide show in some small or medium sized city doesn't make that likely. It 's not going to be cheap if you live far away -- but it's not cheap to go anywhere if you live far away, is it? That's hardly the fault of stamp shows.

Holding on the east coast is important to attract visitors from Europe. Holding it in a tourist city is important so visitors and spouses have other things to do. Holding it in a city with good major hotels and restaurants matters to a lot of people. It 's not about catering to the "elites" whoever they are, though stamp collecting does have some wealthy collectors. Should we get rid of them and level the playing field? It's the former elites like FDR and King George V, and wealthy business people who most popularized stamp collecting years ago. I'm in my 70s and I don't even like a lot of the cranky old men I come across at stamp shows. Where are the bright enthusiastic young people? Playing video games, I suppose. Sigh.

Having said that, I'm also probably not going to Boston for this show, but I don't plan to boast a Populist manifesto denouncing it. Adding up the airfare, the hotels, the meals and so on, just doesn't make sense for me -- but that's not Boston's fault or anyone's fault. Flying thousands of miles and staying in decent hotels for a few days anywhere is expensive. Now if they'd only have all the good stamp shows within 10 miles of where I live, that would be best for me. Can we please arrange that so I won't also get cranky?

I was also planning on attending this show since I missed the last two in DC and New York. I realized as well I cannot afford to go and would rather save my money and spend it on stamps, stock books and album pages like others mentioned above. The cost to go to Boston and attend this stamp show is just too much for me and I realize I cannot afford it unfortunately - I wish I could go. As far as stamp shows go, I have been anxiously looking forward to attending any of the GASS shows and other smaller stamp shows in my area.

To summarize you DrewM:

Travel destination selection is supreme as is fine hotels and restaurants.
Stamp show entrance fees are free or quite low and thus open financially to all, especially for those we want to attend.
Content of show is unimportant as it will always have something for everyone, even if the show venue needs to be left to find it.
Some have more luck, money, skills or better geography than others; get over it.
Each person has the chance to choose to attend nor not; but those we want are likely to come.


My distillation of the summary is:

Since the grant of life on Earth is free for all living things, costs of staying alive need not be considered -- go have fun with your life.

We got lost somewhere about the cost to attend . I have no problem flying into Boston to attend Kelleher Stamp Auctions a few times , I had no problem flying from Chicago to NYC to attend stamp auctions about 15 times at Greg Manning Auctions in N.J . . I twice flew into San Francisco to attend Schuyler Rumsey Stamp Auctions .Each auction was a 2 to 5 day visit .
Now I am 77 and decided that was enough . I can buy on line and have more money for stamps . As Rogdcam said it is all going on line ,why travel , my friends don't attend shows so why go .

My stamp interest is building a worldwide collection , these dealers in Boston are selling material that needs to pay their $1500.00 or more daily expenses .Not like they are going to be offering anything for me .

Going to a show is about the experience; meeting and talking with people, seeing exhibits, being a part of a community. Being surrounded by the philatelic world. Those things cannot be measured simply in dollars spent, and should not be thought of as "less money for stamps", but as an important part of the experience.

My 2 cents worth:
I attended the Chicago and Washington D.C. shows.
Enjoyed the scenery on the drive as I live midway between both.
Enjoyed both cities, museums, dining etc.
Got to talk with dealers I've never met before.
Loved the opportunity to see some great displays of very rare items.
Oh, I bought some stamps too....
Can I afford to go to Boston? No...Can't drive that far anymore either.
I'll stick to smaller local shows with very little expense going.

For those going to Boston, have a great time.
Happy Collecting. Not grumpy !!!