Tips For Working on Your Stamp Collection


Some stamp collectors work on their collections in a small corner of their bedroom or their living room, or on the kitchen table. Although providing a work space, doing this does have its disadvantages - namely the need to clear the area at the end of the day and then replace the philatelic material (hopefully the way it was!) before beginning the next work session. I used to do this myself, and it can get confusing, trying to put everything away so that it makes sense and then replacing it in a way that let me start up again about where I left off. Truly, once an ongoing stamp project is boxed up and put away for a while, it takes twice
the effort to unpack it, spread it all out and figure out where and how to begin working on it again.

I don't do that anymore - my "kitchen philately" days are over. Now I'm one of the lucky stamp collectors that's been able to set aside a room just for working on stamps. Now I don't need to go through that never-ending confusing cycle of pick-up-and-replace, pick-up-and-replace, pick-up-and-replace. When I'm done for the day, I just walk away, leaving all my stamp material right where I want it, ready for my next session.

But not everyone is so fortunate. And stamp collectors who are kitchen philatelists can reduce some of their frustration and problems caused by the endless pick-up-and-replace cycle - just follow some of these tips.

Find an area where you can "permanently" keep the vast majority of your stamp collection and all the material related to it, including your stamp catalogs, stock pages, tongs and other tools. This area may be a bedroom closet, under your bed or some other place - only you know where you'll be able to safely store it and not need to move it. From this "stamp storage area" you can bite off small projects one at a time. That way you'll only need to move a small amount of material to your kitchen table or bedroom stamp area: just whatever you'll need to work on your current small project. And when you have to pack it all back up again at the end of the day, put all the material for that project into its own box, briefcase or small suitcase so that it's ready for you to spread out again, already separated from the bulk of the rest of your material, the next time you're ready for it. The small projects you bite off are up to you - stamp sorting, identifying, mounting or whatever - just bite off something small enough that you can easily pack it up at the end of the day if it's not completed.