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Today, I am a retired housewife and I would like to share my interest in
stamps with other collectors' wives. I started collecting when I was 13 years
old. I sent away to Pensupreme Ice Cream, which advertised a starter album and
stamps. The only payment needed was in Popsicle wrappers. I couldn't wait to get
it. Finally it arrived and I had so much fun trying to figure out where the
stamps went in the album. Unfortunately when I tried to get more money to buy
additional cheap stamps, my father discouraged me. Since we were poor, he said
it was a waste of money. One dollar would have bought a package of several
thousand stamps, but since we were on a tight budget, I soon lost interest.
When I married at age 26, I discovered my husband Al was a stamp collector, too.
In my spare time, I started to look through his stamps. It brought old memories
and rekindled my interest. It didn't take long to find my old Pensupreme Album
and try to fill spaces with his doubles. That really got me started. When my
husband went to the stamp store, I of course tagged along. While he was talking
to the dealer, I was busy going through the penny box. I had so much fun that he
had to drag me away when it was time to go home.
Eventually we started to buy worldwide mixtures. He would help me identify
stamps I couldn't figure out. Every four years we cataloged his entire
collection. Through this process I learned to identify colors, shades,
perforations and watermarks. I asked questions whenever I didn't understand
something in the catalogues. I'm now familiar with tagging and don't have much
trouble identifying different types of paper and printing. Some stamps are
really a challenge and you get the greatest feeling of satisfaction once you
identify the stamp correctly. I especially enjoy the challenge of identifying
stamps others can't!
Besides Scott's, we now have quite a few foreign specialized catalogues. To help
us read the foreign catalogues, we purchased books to translate different
languages to English. It's not as difficult as you might imagine. By learning a
few key words you can usually figure out others.
I'm writing this in the hopes of getting more spouses involved and interested in
the hobby. You'll find the hobby very rewarding. Learn about and enjoy
geography. It will make you better appreciate current events and gain an
historical perspective on today's world. Our grandchildren now come to us to
help them with their homework. Without the knowledge I learned from philately
(the study of postage stamps in all its forms), helping them would be very
difficult.
My only regret is that somehow I should have stayed with my hobby when I was
younger. But as you can see, it's never too late to go back and pick up where
you left off.
When I first started helping my husband with his collection, I sorted stamps by
countries, not knowing enough about perforations and watermarks. I had
difficulty identifying the correct catalogue number, so I took the easy way out.
I left them all for Al to figure out. At first, Al would check the stamps over
carefully and number them accordingly, but then one day he insisted it was time
for me to do it myself.
He began by explaining what the notches meant on the perforation gauge. For
instance, perf 12 means that you had 12 perforations to a line two centimeters
long. (Actually, this form of measurement was devised by a Frenchman around
1860.) Since I understood what the numbers represented, I started using the
perforation gauge by myself.
 Watermarking was a little more of a challenge. A watermark is a security design
impressed onto blank paper when it's manufactured. Al showed me several ways to
detect watermarks on a stamp. Designs can sometimes be seen by holding a stamp
up to a light. Paper is thinner where the watermark is, making the design more
translucent.
"Large Crown"
watermark on a Great Britain penny red.
Another method of checking out a watermark is by laying stamps on a black
surface (small trays are sold for this) and pouring a tiny bit of watermark
fluid on them. The design will appear darker than the rest of the stamp. Unlike
water, this chemical fluid will evaporate and is safe to use on mint stamps
without washing the gum away. You must be sure not to use this fluid on
photoengraved stamps (see the next article). Never use watermark detector fluid
in a room that is not well ventilated. Breathing it in can be very dangerous to
your health. Some watermarks can't be easily identified by either of these
methods.
We have two other tools that we use for the tough watermarks. The first is a
Sinoscope, made by the Safe Corporation, which is rather easy to use. The second
is a Morley-Bright Roll-A-Tector, made in England, which again is fairly easy to
use. The advantage of these two products is that you don't need to wet your
stamps in any way to use them.
 As for stamps, I especially enjoy the stamps from Great Britain and her
colonies. Not only are they the most beautiful to me, but they present a
challenge to properly identify them. Now that I've learned the "tools of
the trade" and their proper use, I actually enjoy trying to catalog these
stamps and can finally fully appreciate them.
Finding a watermark with a Morley-Bright Roll-A-Tector.
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