understanding stamp collecting...

That topic is big enough for a Ph.D. project for sure!

At first: There are two different levels of this hobby: Stamp collecting and philately. Stamp collecting is a hobby like collecting football sticker. Philately is sort of an unofficial auxiliary sciences of history.

Both groups have different motivations and sources of supply.

Also both groups have different needs in information exchange. Stamp Collectors will get most information they need from one printed catalogue. Philatelists are usualy having questions only covered in exotic and rare books if at all.

I would think I'm a philatelist.
I started with stamp collecting as a child (family tradition) and restarted as a philatelist after two decads of doing other things. That was motivated by an interest in the postal history of Imperial Russia and in learning russian.

My main field of collecting is not stamps, but postal items like letters and postcards. They tell a lot about history.

Why do people watch birds or the stars? Same reason as with collecting stamps or coins. A hobby with an intellectual background.

I can't realy tell what reasons stamp collectors have. They must be manyfold. Some belive they collect something of value like buying stocks. Some continue their childhood hobby without any motivation improvement.
...

Hi Sasky,

The world of philately is a very strange one and there are no easy answers as to what makes people want to collect. Or even how they collect.

Many start when very young as a way to learn about history and geography. A stamp can tell you so much just like some say a picture is worth a thousand words.

But when someone decides to collect postal history then it becomes much more like being a detective. Postal history is as Lacplesis already stated the collecting of postal items in their complete form. This can be with stamps attached or without.

Stamps were first invented in 1840 as a simple way for the Post Office to collect the fees due for deivering mail. Before that fees were still paid of course but in cash and such things are known as pre-philatelic. Such items can be found with various cancels and markings. It is from studying the markings applied and later when stamps were also used that a postal historian can trace the story behind any cover. It can tell you how the mail was sent, eg by which route, what happened if anything on the way and a million other things.

I myself started as very young boy of 5 years old with a huge lot of stamps given to me by my parents. I like nearly every collector started out trying to collect stamps from all over the world. It was only in my late teens that I decided to what is known as specialize. That simply means to try and learn more than the basics of an area or subject one is collecting.

So now some 40+ years later I consider myself to be a postal historian and specialist of one very small area of philately the postal history from the German hyper-inflation period eptember - December 1923.

To give you some idea on postal history please see my collection online at the link below.

To begin with many collectors try and exchange stamps with their friends who also collect. Or they may buy stamps from local dealers and auctions. Some join specialist societies to improve their knowledge and some don't.

Yes the internet is one avenue of obtaining material but far from being the only one.

I am sure there are a thousand other questions you may have and some may be best answered via e-mail. I can of course read your questions here but you can also contact me via the PN option on this forum. I can reply and let you have an e-mail address to contact me if you wish and if I can help you further I will.

Good luck with your Phd. You have chosen a fascinating subject that once you learn more might also make you want to become a collector.

Best wishes,
Alec.

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Original von sasky

I'm new here... how can I use the "PN option"? just pushing the "link" PN and sending you a message?

correct!

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Original von sasky
It's really interesting for me...THANKS may I ask you... why are you interested in Russia and learning russian? you are from German, right?

Right.
Well, THAT is difficult to explain... I was a strange fellow right from the beginning.
In my late teens I was pointed to the russian civil war by a book titled "Byzantium Endures". After that I studied the history of this war in detail for understanding the military and social mechanisms of it.

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Original von saskySo... is it right to think that collecting stamps or other related items can be sort of "intellectual stimulation"?? Or it is just something to pass the time?

Intellectual stimulation for sure!
I.e.: There are specialized librarys in Hamburg and Munich, carrying only philatelic literature.

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It's long time you participate in the forum?

Yes, for several years now.

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why do you participate? to find stamps? information? Do you also participate in other forums??
what kind of information do you seek?

I help people identifing their old russian stamps, cancels and postal items. What comes out for me is that once or twice a year someone shows something quite interesting. That's enough for me...

I participate in two other german philatelic forums and a specialized US forum on russian philately. Also on two military historical forums and a mil.-hist. mailing list.

Hi there,

Why do people collect things? Most of us are hoarders, this is a natural progression of man's development and evolution.

In the instance where one chooses to collect a specific facet then the hoarding aspect becomes focussed.

Stamp collecting cannot by definition be described as defined, and only as relatively focussed.

Postal history on the other hand is widely regarded as a science and closely allied to history.

(An important paper on this, available in German, can be sent to you, sadly I do not have time to translate it)

A postal history chair was incumbent at the Vienna University, until 1938,its last occupant, a Jew, was following the Anschluß, removed, this chair has never been reinstated.

There have been calls for a chair or chairs to be sponsored within Germany, however nothing has come to fruition.

Within England there exist a number of unofficial chairs for this subject, with the lecturers touring various universities and colleges on an "as and when" basis.

On this site there are a number of senior and/or leading philatelists.

Should you wish to know more please contact myself by email, it is under my profile.

kind regards

Nigel

Why some choose to go to fairs, and others not, why some involve themselves with societies or and others not; this is down to the multiplicity and diversity of human nature.

This and other sites are effectively clubs/societies, some members engage actively, others merely read.

It has to be said that stamp collectors/philatelist are not generally known for being gregarious, what you experience here with the active members is the exception to this.

Active members within a society often represent less than 5% of the membership.

kind regards

Nigel

Sasky,

What are you getting your PhD in? Do they teach scientific methods at the institution from which you are receiving your degree? I am sorry to say that you do not appear to have a topic for your doctoral thesis, at a minumum you have not clearly expressed you research question, you do not know the literature, you do not appear to have the theoretical underpinnings in place for what ever research questions you are pursuing, and I cannot tell your research methodology.

Is this provocative? I am afraid so.

All of us like to talk about our hobby, but for a true research project, I don't believe some random data collection on a message board is the proper approach. Furthermore, in the US, medical and behavioral research requiring human participation -- which includes surveys and any form of contact beween the researcher and her "human subjects" -- mandates prior approval by the Institutional Review Board:
I am sure there is a similar process in place at your university and I urge you to follow such guidelines before continuing your "data collection." Prior approval by the moderators of this board is also mandatory before studying our "community-related behaviors and orientations" as expressed in member discussions on this message board. Of course, I would hope for the moderators not to grant such approval without proper disclosure to members, who then may decide if they want to be guinea pigs for a doctoral thesis. Honestly, I have to admit that given the fatal flaws I am observing in your research approach, I am having some problems believing that you are real.

Reference to the best essay I am aware of about the motivation for and joy of collecting stamps can be found here:

Of course, if you did your job, you would know of it already. I understand that both collecting and group behavior/dynamics are phenomena that have received in-depths treatment in the behavioral sciences, psychology, sociology, respectively. So what is your contribution to the field? Someone is going to ask that at your dissertation defense, or prior when you seek IRB approval for your study.

So, I dare to ask this now . . .

Best regards,
C.P.

Some messages have been posted while I was composing my previous one.

This is exactly what I mean:

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Original von sasky
thanks Lacplesis...

So you are very active online, right? You also buy/sell online? where?

Sasky,

You are interviewing and enlisting lacplesis and other members of philaforum as subjects in your study without giving full disclosure of the purpose of the study and without prior solicitation of express permission for analysis and publication. In the U.S. this is considered unethical. Before "user lacplesis" appears in the Appendix of your diss, maybe labeled as another "compulsive introvert" , he should have the ability to decide whether he wants to be part of it.

As an aside: I have been involved on occasion in designing research projects. Yes/no interview questions are usually a poor choice. I assume you have a script? If not these unstructured interviews will be almost impossible to analyze.

CP

Granted there are some flaws in the approach, however he would not be alone in using the pepper pot method to research, furthermore the use of English, clearly not the mother tongue, doesn't help in making the approach appear anything like focussed.

Engaging with people to get answers to sociological behaviour requires no approval as a method of research. To gain a true, or as true a picture as possible the subjects must be unaware of the research being carried out, otherwise the behaviour by those partaking becomes tailored, and hence a false picture could be formed.

This is particularly true in the fields of Ethno and Socio-anthropology.

I for one don't wish to stimy any research, and would rather offer the benefit of doubt, until such is either way proved otherwise.

kind regards

Nigel

For my part there exists no problem with you interacting with people for the purposes of research into collecting.

I would however advise that you discuss your intended research with your tutor. You will, or should be advised that the subsequent publication of your research must guarrantee total anonymity to the participants.

I would also advise that questions relating to the commerce of the hobby have no part in behavioural research.

So feel free to carry on.

kind regards

Nigel

No, no Sasky. By all means, please carry on. Doktorstamp -- as always -- is a voice of moderation and I certainly did not want to appear rude. However, it certainly was my intention of being "pointed" as to the purpose and research design of your study. I would be delighted if you could reveal a little more about it.

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Original von doktorstamp
Engaging with people to get answers to sociological behaviour requires no approval as a method of research. To gain a true, or as true a picture as possible the subjects must be unaware of the research being carried out, otherwise the behaviour by those partaking becomes tailored, and hence a false picture could be formed.

I must disagree. There is broad consensus in the scientific community that engaging in casual or apparently unmotivated conversation with a person, when the true purpose is researching, analyzing, and publishing about the person, violates the person's autonomy. There is almost never justification for entering some "social world" undercover for purposes of research. Alternative research approaches are almost always available that respect participants' autonomy and adhere to the requirement of informed consent. There is no rule that scientific discovery ranks higher than a person's free will to participate or not participate in a study. Formal institutional approval processes are in place in the US, but certainly also in Switzerland, to ensure that scientific inquiry is carried out with the least amount of intrusion and under full consideration of participants' rights. We have come a long way, but these standards which originated in the obvious area of medical research now broadly apply to all social sciences. If I was to work on a doctoral thesis requiring human subject research, I certainly would want to be 1000% on these requirements. Violations will blow a thesis right out of the water.

Now, we are getting way ahead of ourselves here. As it appears Sasky may only be at the very early stages of this research project. Also, the line between personal interest in the hobby as a hobby and a research interest in the hobby as a research subject may be blurred.

Sasky: I hope you find Ayn Rand's essay on stamp collecting helpful. This is certainly a reference that you can cite. I believe she says it all. If you need the whole essay, please let me know. I may be able to chase it down for you.

Times ago Alessandro Arseni, publisher of the magazine "The postal gazette", makes me read a serious analisys about stamp collecting and stamps collectors. To be honest, not just to me. The results of this analisys were posted into a public forum, even if now i can't find it. It was in italian, but if you're from Lugano, you will certainly have no problem.
I don't know how helpful could it be, but you can try asking to him directly. To contact him you can simply visit the postal gazette website.