October is National Stamp Collecting Month which provides an opportunity to talk about how stamp collecting influenced W. Parsons Todd as a collector and founder of Macculloch Hall Historical Museum. Todd began to collect stamps, particularly stamps from the United States, when he was a child and continued to collect stamps for over 90 years. When his stamp collection was sold after his death, the auction house recognized his collection as “the most valuable U.S. holding to come to the market in the last decade”. Due to its size, nine different auctions were held. The income from the auction was put back into the W. Parsons Todd Foundation, which owns Macculloch Hall Historical Museum.
Today, stamps offer children and young adults the opportunity to learn about important places, people, and events from around the world. Stamp collectors of all ages can search for used stamps, “mint stamps” that have never been used, and First Day covers with cachet. According to the American Philatelic Society, “your stamp collection can be whatever you want it to be, there is no right or wrong way to collect”. Philatelic comes from the word philately which is the study and collection of stamps.
Resources:
Topic: What Do You Collect?
Age / Level: Primary, Elementary