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Stamp Collecting Report, I'm Lloyd de Vries. The organization for those who collect by subject, or topics, is the American Topical Association, and its new executive director is Jennifer Miller, whose husband is also a stamp collector. HER topic is sheep. "They said, 'Oh, what do you like?' And I said, 'I like sheep." And they said 'You should collect sheep on stamps.' And I said, 'What?! You can do that? They have those?' And sure enough, they showed me the checklist, and I was hooked. I was off and running." RUNS :14 No, Miller didn't grow up on a sheep farm. Her grandparents had cattle. "I guess cattle are a little more intimidating, especially when you're small, you know, you have these big animals running at you, so maybe sheep seemed a little smaller, and they're kind of cute and cuddly-looking, too." RUNS :09 But that's not her only topic. "I have Winnie the Pooh, teapots — just because I like teapots — and my latest is I've started collecting coffee stamps." RUNS :07 It's not unusual for topicalists to collect more than one subject. "There's usually one topic that draw you in, that's like your favorite or you're passionate, but once you get started, you're like, 'I like this, too.' Or as you're searching for your one stamp, like I was with my sheep, you find … the teapot caught my eye, and I said, 'I like those, too.'" RUNS :16 The A-T-A has been around for 70 years, but it's only in the last 30 years or so that topical collecting has really taken off, and the A-T-A is now the second-biggest stamp collecting organization in the U-S. It has members all over the world. One of the A-T-A's services is providing those checklists of stamps by subject. Including sheep. You can find out more at American-topical-A-S-S-N-dot-org. As for the new executive director… "I think it's going to be a lot of fun. I'm really looking forward to it." RUNS :02 I’m Lloyd de Vries of The Virtual Stamp Club. For more on stamps and stamp collecting, visit virtual-stamp-club-dot-com. ---------------------------------------------------------- Go to Previous Report Go to Next Report Go to Report Index |
