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1. Genesis - From earliest times the peoples of the world have sought means of communicating with each other. These efforts may be traced to the very mists of antiquity, and before any means of written thoughts had come into use we may be sure that runners carried spoken messages between tribes. Inca runners carried quipus - a strange collection of cords tied to a stick with the cords knotted so that the runner bearing them could slip each through his fingers and, as in counting rosary beads, recite the messages the knots recalled to memory.

2. Kinds of Stamps - When the first stamp was issued, and for a number of years thereafter, stamps were completely functional. They were issued to pay postage on letters. It was not long, however, before other ideas crept in. Naturally enough, if a postage stamp could carry a picture of the ruling monarch it could also be the means of publicizing other things.

3. Stamp Collectors- The people began to gather early. By 9 A.M. they stood from building to curb, as much as ten abreast, and the lines extended in both directions along the west side of Lexington Avenue, around the corners of 46th and 47th streets along both long blocks back to Park Avenue, and on the other side of Park Avenue thousands more awaited the opportunity to cross.

4. Stamp Dealers - The little old lady called the expressman to pick up the rather large and nondescript package. This done she sat at her writing desk and addressed a letter. "Dear Mr. Thorp:

I will not be buying any stamps for a while as my son and daughter-in-law have moved from this city for the West. They have asked me to live with them in their new home and have sent me plane tickets.

5. Stamp Department - In the preceding section we have had much to say about the stamp dealer. Now let us understand the stamp department of a great department store. Of course these, too, are stamp dealers and are just as much a part and parcel of the hobby as the stamp dealers we have been discussing. But under the able leadership of a man of amazing insight the stamp department of a department store fulfills its own special place in the world of Philately.

6. How to Start - If you had decided to remodel your home, one way to start would be the method employed by a friend of mine. He decided to enlarge his bedroom by extending it out over the porch. The month was February and, having decided, he promptly took a sledge hammer and knocked out the wall of the house.

7. Next Step - Having acquired the beginner's outfit, as described in the foregoing chapter, the next step is to get to work on your treasures.

A good site for operations is the dining-room table as it offers plenty of room and, also, the rest of the family can sit around and put in their "two cents' worth" on occasion. Perhaps, later you will wish to make this a one-man project and retire to your den, but right now it will be more fun to let everyone in on the act for you are going to need much help sorting that initial packet of stamps.

8. The Tools - The principal tools required by every philatelist are simple and inexpensive. They consist of stamp tongs with which to handle your stamps, a perforation gauge and millimeter rule with which to measure the perforations on your stamps, a watermark detector to help you identify watermarks, and a supply of stamp hinges to attach your stamps to your album.

9. Stamp Albums -Stamp albums fall into two general categories-"printed" and "blank".

Printed albums provide spaces with illustrations and/or descriptions of each stamp that is to be placed in each space. All beginners should use a printed album and many advanced collectors continue to use them throughout their entire collecting life. They are used by far more collectors than any other type of album. They come in many styles to suit various purposes. Let us examine them in detail.

10. Stamp Catalogs - Stamp catalogs are just about the most useful and necessary tool of the hobby. Indeed, were it not for these important publications, the hobby would amount to very little. If you did not procure a stamp catalog with your initial outfit you will certainly need one very soon, for the entire stamp world revolves around these important books. Albums are patterned after them; all stamp dealer advertisements refer to them; all philatelic magazines, all philatelic writers and authorities base their articles and studies upon them. Further, the catalog prices for stamps are the basis on which stamps are bought, sold and exchanged throughout the world.

11. Acquire Stamps - Time was when many a great collection was started by an embryo collector visiting the attic and discovering an old trunk full of letters with stamps attached. In fact, many of our greatest rarities were discovered in just that way and many others were ruined through ignorance of what had been discovered!

12. Collect - As we have seen from Chapter 2 there are a great many different kinds of postage stamps. The problem arises just what should you, or I, as individuals decide to collect? Shall we collect the stamps of the world without discrimination? Or should we limit our fields of endeavor? In a previous chapter where we have outlined the steps in starting a collection, we have advised that the beginner should start out collecting "the world".

13. Paper & Watermarks - The manufacture of paper is one of the oldest arts known to mankind and remains today basically one of the simplest arts. It is of interest to the stamp collector principally because of the watermarks and some of the special papers used for making some nineteenth-century postage stamps. Presently "ordinary" paper with or without the watermark is used universally throughout the world for making postage stamps.

14. Printing - Because some stamps have been printed by two or more methods and because specialists often collect various kinds of printing flaws, the entire subject of printing is of interest to all collectors. In fact, an advanced collector will often have a knowledge of printing far surpassing that of a great many commercial printers.

15. Perforations - The world's first postage stamps, issued by Great Britain in 1840, were without means of self-separation. They are called "imperforate" or, abbreviated, "imperf.". Such stamps had to be cut apart with scissors or some other means. Hence it is unusual to find "imperf.". Stamps with nice margins on all four sides.

16. Condition - Condition is a factor that has a direct and considerable bearing upon the value of your stamps. Reduced to its simplest terms, a stamp that is torn in half would not be worth as much as the same stamp in perfect condition. It doesn't take an expert to recognize that. But "condition" in philately carries far greater connotations.

17. Cancellations - Reposing under the glass top of a stamp dealer's counter was a "cover" bearing an ordinary three-cent stamp issued by the United States in 1869. Almost every collector will at once know the stamp we are talking about it is ultramarine in color and bears a picture of an old time locomotive.

18. Investment? - Throughout the pages in this book you have read much about one-stamp being more valuable than another. It has been pointed out that the various tools described are needed to identify a less valuable stamp from one of more value and that it is necessary to know the fundamentals of printing, of paper making, and many other things in order to identify each individual stamp. We have indicated that a youngster found a stamp of great value in a cheap packet of stamps, that another collector purchased a stamp for ten dollars that later was to bring over one thousand dollars at public auction.

19. Social Aspects - By and large Homo sapiens is a social creature. He builds his home in close proximity to others, he likes to mingle in crowds, to eat and be entertained in public places surrounded by others, and, above all, he longs for the companionship of others.

Yet he can not attain his longing merely by attending public gatherings.

20. Advanced Collection - Eventually you will wish to build a truly advanced collection one worthy of exhibition in the greatest of stamp shows. This does not necessarily require a large outlay of money. It does require considerable research to the point where you know as much as preferably more than anyone else about the stamps you collect.

21. Treasure Trove - The Classic Stories of the fabulous stamps of philately have been told so many times that to recount them here would be repetitious and boring. The Post Office "Mauritius", the Hawaiian "Missionaries", the "24-cent inverted airmail", the "Hawker", the "Pinedo" and all of the others have become legendary and are as much a part of stamp collecting as are stamps themselves.

22. Stamp Societies - There are so many stamp clubs located in cities and towns throughout the United States that it would not be possible to list them all in this book. Certainly there must be one located near every large city. We list here the principal National societies. Information about membership may be had by writing to the addresses given.

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