Franklin Delano Roosevelt Was The Most Amazing Philatelist Of All Time Part I of II

The great President Franklin Delano Roosevelt was an avid stamp collector. Sometime in 1890, when he was eight years old, his parents introduced him to the art of philately. This curious young boy began his great journey of stamp collecting and immersed himself completely in the hobby. He built such an enormous collection that by the time that he became President of the United States, he had albums for practically every country in the world.

In the 1800’s, the Roosevelt family was involved in trading and shipping with countries around the world. This young boy begged family members to send him mail and bring him his beloved stamps from around the world. He was not picky about the stamps he received. Nothing was eliminated from his collection; he wanted every stamp that he could lay his hands on.

He loved his stamps so much that later when he went away to prep school and then onto Harvard University, he took his entire stamp collection with him. For the remainder of his life, no matter the places he traveled to, his beloved collection traveled along with him in a wooden trunk. He is known to have spent hours each night with his stamp collection.

Please come back on Friday for the conclusion to this post.