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Cancellations are a good way to get children and beginners interested in stamp collecting. You can get them from your own incoming mail or get friends to save the envelopes. It's a great way to learn about the cities and towns of your own state and those around the country. For something different, try collecting cancellations from foreign countries as well.

                   

Left: A Maltese Cross was the first cancel to be used on a postage stamp; Right: A modern postmark.

This would be a good time to discuss definitions. A "postmark" is a mark that shows the place and date of mailing. A "cancel" is a mark meant to simply deface the stamp and does not carry other information. Today, only postmarks are used in the US, but there is a rich history of cancels from the 19th and early 20th century. Many collectors today use these terms are interchangeably.

All you need to start is a 3 ring binder, blank pages and a pack of hinges. Make a page for each state. Mount the entire envelope or cut out a 2 inch by 4 inch piece along with basic information about the place. You can find information from encyclopedias, almanacs, and books from the library or on the Internet.

Besides regular cancels, special pictorial postmarks are available around the country, commemorating anniversaries, events and alike.

A pictorial postmark.

Some collectors I know use a large map of the US and mount it on their hobby room wall, marking the cities where they have cancellations from. Others try to get a cancellation from every city in a state, or specialize in just one state or region. Also be aware that town and city names change over a period of time. Very few places are named the same as when they were founded. The town in Pennsylvania where I live changed names three times since I've been here. When I came here it was called Eddington, then Cornwell's Heights and now Bensalem, and I never moved once!

Postmarks and cancellations make an interesting and inexpensive second collection. If it's not for you, consider saving them for collectors who do. Imagine if no one saved stamps many years ago. They would be scarce today. I'm not suggesting that the cancels or stamps of today are or will be valuable in the future. Collect for the fun of it!

Every collector could learn much from this kind of collection. For a change of pace from just stamps, give it a try.

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