HomeMy WebLinkAboutTimes Advocate, 1997-03-26, Page 15and Section - March 26, 1997
For kids: the fine art of stamp collecting
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Dut'wg the March Break, Huron County libraries held workshops on stamp collecting.
Above, participants at the Exeter branch learn mow to soak stamps off paper and below,
they closely examine various stamps.
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By Brenda Burke
T -A Reporter
With an emphasis on how to cut
collecting costs, Cox told the children
EXETER - Each year, parents face the how to get started in the stamp
challenge of finding activities to keep collecting hobby. She recommended a
the kids busy during the March Break, basic beginner's book. Through the post.
especially now that it's a two-week • office, she added, they could join the • -
stint. This year, Huron County libraries Stamp Traveller's Club, which comes
have offered something new - a stamp complete with stamp paraphernalia
collecting workshop. (tongs, magnifying glass, information
• "I certainly was quite an avid • . booklet) as well As an Awesome Stamp.
'collector when I was a kid," said Sharon. Stuff newsletter. She suggested they find
' Cox, instructor of the one-hour stamps from dealers, relatives, hobby
,wgrkshop geared toward seven to 12- " stores and pen pals.
year-olds at Exeter, Hensall, Zurich, _ Care of the stamp_ was an important -
Clinton, Seaforth and-Goderich library part_of the workshop. Tongs are a
branches. 'necessity, Cox pointed out, as oil from
For a $1 fee, which is do ated to - fingers -can damage stamps. She showed
children's library programs, participants the group how to' t "rim and soak stamps
picked, up tips on stamp history, types, without damaging them. -
display, storage and how to soak -the,
, little valuables off envelopes. As a •
(onus, reads a workshop flyer,
"Save your special stamps until
you've had some practice," she advised._
"If you, rip the stamp, it's ripped
participants receive two sets of 30 ' forever."
stamps - "one to keep land one_to ):rade." Stamp booklets and albums were
At the Exeter Branch Library last mentioned: e _ ' ` '
Monday, hands' were eagerly held out to , "To get a stamp album of the whole
collect stamp sets in categories of worldr it would probably be as high as
animals,. famous people, countries ..
transportation, flags and symbols as
well as sports and music.e. -
"You can Hardly talk abdut it all in
just anhour,"_Cox told nine participant's
as the stamp hour began. "Does anyone
know where the first stamp was
issued?"
After many creative guesses; she
revealed the answer as Great Britain,
where the stamp was issued as a
solution in a time when people paid to
receive mail rather than to send it.
"The post office was getting in very
serious financial trouble," she explained
of the system that would lose,track of
residents who moved away or died.
the
ENTAL
this room." _ '
The group was informed stamp
catalogues are an' excellent source,of,
stamp origin. •
Cox highlighted stamp types, adding
"all stamps are mint (not used) when
they first go to the post office."'
And, the workshopWas not without a
mini lesson on fluorescent tagging.
"If you put them under an ultraviolet
light, they glow."
How does Cox manage to successfully
relate her hobby to children? Maybe it
has something to do/ with the fact her ,
seven-year-old daughter is an avid
stamp collector.
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