A Stamp Dealer's Reflections

The image of the experience remains vivid. Whatever stamps I bought are long forgotten. They're long gone.

The first stamp store I ever spent any time in is wrapped in memories that gild reality with a richness probably lacking. But sitting on that swiveling stool at the counter of the stamp store in Brockton, Massachusetts was akin to sitting on a throne. That was where I overlooked a compact kingdom of inexhaustible fascination and splendor. That was where I began to grasp some of the possibilities of stamp collecting, and where the lives of people who made their living buying and selling stamps came into a vague focus.

I can't remember the specific items, but unattainable treasures were displayed under the clear protective covering on the counter. And I can't remember much about the stamp dealer behind that counter other than he was large and he was nice.

In Nova Scotia I met Stu Blumenthal. He was a stamp dealer with a second floor shop on Barrington Street in Halifax, later on, a street level shop. He sold me wholesale lots which I made up into approvals. That was years ago. Today he splits his time between Lunenburg, Nova Scotia and Stuart, Florida.

Pat Herst has done the definitive job telling us about a stamp dealer's life. "Nassau Street" is a treat to read.

Perhaps the single greatest stamp dealer of all time was the charming Robson Lowe whose spirit, knowledge and human qualities put him in a league of his own. There's little I can add. And not being of his league little I would not attempt to.

Other than to tell you that being a stamp dealer is at one and the same time steeped in solitude and full of marvelous relationships. The trust that exists between a dealer and his customers is perhaps rarely found in other businesses.

You find a stamp for a client and you're probably as thrilled as the client. You break down a stamp collection you've acquired and you have a sense of who wants what. You make some mistakes, you hit some home runs, and you marvel.

You marvel at how no other passtime has accumulated the body or knowldege and research that stamp collecting has. You marvel at the difficulties in finding supposedly common stamps that the stamp catalog editors must have access to in abundance. You marvel at what the internet has done to bring collectors together. And you marvel at how much deep and enduring satisfaction our pursuit of these little pieces of paper provides.