What Do Wallpaper and Stamp Collecting Have in Common? More Than You Might Guess!

The hobby of stamp collecting began in England shortly after the 1840 debut of the world's first official adhesive postage stamp, the famous British "Penny Black" (shown at right). The Penny Black featured a profile of the reigning British monarch, Queen Victoria. "To this day, all British stamps bear a profile of the reigning monarch somewhere on the design, and are the only nationality of stamp that do not name their country of origin," according to Wikipedia.

Historians trace the hobby's origin to an ad placed in a London newspaper in 1840, supposedly by a young lady who wished to acquire enough of the new postage stamps to wallpaper her room. Some historians claim the advertisement was actually a hoax perpetrated by the founder of the first and one of the greatest philatelic firms in the world, Stanley Gibbons, Ltd. Whichever story you choose to believe, the philatelic world agrees that this advertisement was the first attempt to collect stamps, according to The Complete Guide to Stamp Collecting (click the post title to learn more at howtocollectstamps.com).

Stamp collecting is a rewarding hobby available to young and old, beginner and expert alike. You can collect stamps of a favorite sport, flowers, animals, cartoon characters, countries of the world, famous people -- nearly anything you can think of. A beginner needs only a few essentials to get started:

• Stamp album
• Stamp hinges
• Stamp tongs
• Stamps

It's the kind of hobby you can easily learn as you go. You can get very inexpensive beginner kits at stamp dealers or on the internet. County Stamp Center sells stamp books and basic supplies and thousands of stamps to get you started. Visit our website for all your philatelic needs and discover the joy of stamp collecting.