Stamp Column Archives

The Glassine Surfer Column Archive

This column originally appeared in the American Philatelic Society's monthly magazine, "The American Philatelist." Since then some of the information may be out-of-date depending on how far back you're reading.

August 2001

As you read this, I'm dipping my feet into the waves, admiring the beach, keeping to the shade and wishing stamps were waterproof.  I guess that's what they call an obsession.  

Stamp are entertainment, a release valve and a retreat.  Some are rare, some ubiquitous, most common, but all beautiful and rich in detail and context.  They're a pleasant challenge and a lifelong contemplation.

It's a wonderful world where even the sunsets are the colors of French colonial issues, where each town has its own postmark, and where the years are measured by pages of new issues.  

What else can take you away from the daily grind and get you home in time for dinner every day with no known side effects except for a few hinges clinging to your sleeves?

Site Listings

The 'Net is worthless without people, and using the 'Net to find stamp collectors is one of its best uses, which makes link directories the most important Web sites for stamp collectors.  

The first directory, Yahoo!, started as a hodge-podge of html pages of volunteer selected sites, and the link directory has gone through a series of changes since then.  Today, Google is the 'Net's search resource of choice, and it's not even a directory, just the best search engine on the 'Net.

The power of a directory is the person creating it.  If we regard the creator as a teacher, then it's best that the physics directory be created by a physicist who knows the Web.  The same applies to stamps and the 'Net, and in this regard we are fortunate that we have many excellent directories available to stamp collectors.

Joe Luft's a stamp dealer who maintains a section on his site for Internet resources which may be the most extensive collection of stamp collecting Web sites available.  He has a simple way for people to add their sites to his link database so that it's always growing.

Joe Luft
http://www.execpc.com/~joeluft/resource.html

On the other hand, Jeff Lee's Listopedia is a handmade link directory of selected sites that are grouped and classified in much the same way as a librarian shelves books.  Besides that, the Web site design makes it very easy to pick and click the many options to get to what you're looking for, which is increasingly difficult these days on many Web sites.

Stamp Listopedia
http://www.filbert.com/StampListopedia/default.htm

Stampsites is a specialized search engine.  You type in the keywords for the stamp or stamp topic you're searching for and you'll get back a list of pages that best match your words.  Such a method is excellent when you're looking for very specific data, such as Schermack perforations or Canadian squared circles.

Stampsites
http://www.stampsites.com/

Each of these three mentioned sites locates stamp collecting information in slightly different ways and degrees of accuracy.  Luft lists by site and has thousands of entries, but you have to have the time to separate the wheat from the chaff.