My UK relatives somehow thought a beach and surf obsessed 15 year old girl would rather spend her time using a set of tweezers to delicately admire mint condition stamps that spanned subjects ranging from dandelions and cow breeds to Houses of Devon. They were wrong. But I must say I did and still do appreciate their placement of each stamp set into individually made little envelopes lovingly stapled together with names, date and boredom factor printed neatly on the front...
Which leads me to my deepest darkest secret of all (gulps):
I have Prince Charles & Princess Diana Commemorative Wedding Stamps.
In short, this Royal Wedding has caused hitherto unexpected angst and I'm stuck between a stamp and a hard place. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
I hear your gasps of shock, the horror, the embarrassment of knowing that I once subscribed to such nerdy pursuits! Oh would I that I could change such repugnant deeds! Will the excuse of 'My mother made me do it' suffice? Yes? No?!
Alas, I fear my darkest past rears its gummy portrait at the announcement of Prince William and Ms Kate Middleton's engagement. It isn't like we weren't expecting it, it isn't as if we didn't know that a Commemorative Stamp Issue was on the cards; I just simply hadn't conceived what it would do to me personally.
But now I have a massive dilemma that I hope you can help me solve: am I obliged to collect the stamps for this event too, considering the precedent exists albeit stuffed in a dark place? Do I need a matched pair? A timeline of history contained in one little blue stamp book? Or do I merely scoff and then secretly wish I had when it turns out they'd be worth a lot more as a set??
You have to understand, this is quite obviously hand wringing stuff. The Australian political landscape has taken a back seat, the children are neglected and the dog looks at me with a mournful 'Goodo's now please?' expression. I'm not answering the phone, collecting the mail and talks with other mums at the bus stop have become meaningless. Worst of all? The Australian House of Representative televised Question Time has become ...banal.
Alas, I fear my darkest past rears its gummy portrait at the announcement of Prince William and Ms Kate Middleton's engagement. It isn't like we weren't expecting it, it isn't as if we didn't know that a Commemorative Stamp Issue was on the cards; I just simply hadn't conceived what it would do to me personally.
But now I have a massive dilemma that I hope you can help me solve: am I obliged to collect the stamps for this event too, considering the precedent exists albeit stuffed in a dark place? Do I need a matched pair? A timeline of history contained in one little blue stamp book? Or do I merely scoff and then secretly wish I had when it turns out they'd be worth a lot more as a set??
You have to understand, this is quite obviously hand wringing stuff. The Australian political landscape has taken a back seat, the children are neglected and the dog looks at me with a mournful 'Goodo's now please?' expression. I'm not answering the phone, collecting the mail and talks with other mums at the bus stop have become meaningless. Worst of all? The Australian House of Representative televised Question Time has become ...banal.
In short, this Royal Wedding has caused hitherto unexpected angst and I'm stuck between a stamp and a hard place. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Re-posting:
ReplyDeleteI say buy it!! And then pass it on to your kids at some point...why should you alone be the inheriting subject of family stamps heirloom?? Pass it on and let the Kids experience the unexpected angst of a Royal Wedding too!
Cheers,
Claudia
Lis - I too am a philatelist - or once was. An interesting thing about philately - I once saw it sway an election. Claude Pepper of the state of Florida in the US once lost an election when his opponent said - "Claude, he is an interesting gent, he engages in Philately with young children" - the constiuency was niave as to the term "philately" and assumed the worse. Claude lost that election -but his stamp collection prospered.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing,
All the very best,
Christopher
www.burgessct.com
@burgessct