The Field Trip

Alas, for me, that I have never been to a stamp trading session before! Judy, Josh and I had the special opportunity to do just that yesterday morning. To begin, we journeyed to The San Diego Philatelic Library, which is located in Escondido, Ca. It is totally a volunteer and donor supported organization that helps local stamp collectors in southern California. It's a cozy little place, with big tables, chairs, and walls lined with old books, new books, catalogs, and nary a dust bunny to be seen.

We began with what every road journey must begin with: Starbucks. Then scooted on the 78 to Escondido to find the library.

Arrival was exactly what I expected... 4-5 retired looking gentlemen sitting at a table with their books and bags and boxes FULL of stamps. I walked in, first, holding my dad's fishing tackle box, full of stamp related tools and materials, like a timid first grader walking in on the first day of school. You know, gripped tight with both hands?

"Hi, I'm Marcie." Shook hands. "I inherited my dad's stamp collection and I don't know anything."

There were smiles all around, after the initial crooking eyebrow at my bizarre introduction. Judy then, kindly, took over and introduced herself. She's much more charismatic than I. Josh also served as a nice diversion since the stamp library has lots of donations that kids can go through and pick out to put in their books. Josh was shown the donation drawer, I signed my name in the check-in sheet under Judy's conversation, and proceeded to watch.

Stamp trading commenced with no fanfare. It was simply people handing out their books to others and a mutual agreement of how many to trade for. If you wanted a stamp and didn't have any to trade, duplicates were 5 cents each. It was conversation that came and went, like a tide, one moment full of action and then slid into quiet contemplation.

I felt at home, after a while, the gentlemen sliding over their books with comments like, "the girls should see this one." I think they liked that we were there and wanted to learn their lifelong passion. They invited us to come back on a week night and they would help us look through what we had, try and catalog some things, and help us get started.

While explaining this to a friend later in the day, it was like each man (and then a woman came in to trade!) had their each own, distinctive, personality. I could have written a sitcom based on our interaction that morning. Like "Cheers," just for a stamp club. There was the "East Coaster," full of bravado, but with the soft heart of gold on the inside. The leader, Tom, who was eager to help, but a introverted and cutely awkward. A foreigner, all smiles. The quiet, smart one. An older gentleman, kind but hard of hearing. And then the loud and goofy newcomers: US!

Judy, Josh and I had a lot of fun and got some good pointers. We need some tools, some special duplicate folders and things. As we drove off for home, Judy turned to me and said, "You know, I think your dad would have really liked this." I smiled. He really would have enjoyed stamp trading there. And in some cosmic, mystic, or spiritual way, he is.

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How Hawaii Helped My Stamp Journey

I had the incredible opportunity to visit Hawaii this month. I was always under the impression that Hawaii had this cliche' persona about it. (You know how Florida does? Yeah, like that.) The electric pink umbrellas in one's drink, shiny palm trees, tourists with sunburns and socks pulled up too high... I thought that was it. Hey, don't judge me, I live in San Diego. Why go somewhere tropical when the Mediterranean seaboard comes to us, you know? Anyway, I was in for a surprising enlightenment. Hawaii was not like that. At all.

One of our day trips was to a Farmer's Market in the hillside above Kailua, Kona, Hi. It was a gray and humid day and along our journey, we discovered this little place:

Discovery Antiques! It is located on one of the main roads that clings to the edge of the foothills above the sleepy little town of Kailua, Hi. I am standing in front of a hole-in-the-wall pizza place in which the proprietor yelled something about how four women parking in front of his front door was a prayer being answered... But THAT is another story. (I was told the pizza was good, though.)

We dodged some incoming traffic and walked inside. It was a cluttered and friendly place. The owner was the kind of person who knew his store. He bustled around, assisting us Hawaii gringos. A mental light bulb flickered to life over my head and then screamed at me.

"Why, I could ask to see some old postcards or envelopes... FOR STAMPS!"

Real brilliant, Marcie. Like I said, I'm new at this.

The owner brought some up right away. I flicked through and pulled out some that I thought my dad hadn't collected. As I was looking through, he brushed past the counter, stopped, look at my stack and said, "What are you looking for?"

A bit taken out of my reverie, "oh! Stamps!"

"You're a philatelist, then?"

My mind tried to register the word. I had not been called that before. It's a nice word to hear being called. "I am, actually."

He smiled and walked away. I turned back to my postcard-hunt and heard him say, "One second, let me find some more stamps for my friend..."

A few minutes later he had pulled out an old collection from what I can only assume was his attic stuffed full of goodies. The books felt humid and compressed, like they had been stacked under something heavy. I greedily pulled the book closer to me, respectfully opened the cover...

It was weird opening someone else's collection like that. My only experience is leafing through my dad's books. It felt very personal. This person had hand written each country's page with long and loopy cursive. They had taken a lot of time to collect these stamps. I wonder who they were, and why they collected stamps.

In the end, it turned out the owner collected stamps of his own: he specialized in British stamps. I settled on some stamps from a few countries I had not seen duplicates of. He placed them in a manila envelope and we sealed it with tape so they would stay protected. I walked out with the envelope hugged to my chest, smiling. My very first purchase on my own, I hoped it was a good one!

Sadly, we left Hawaii a few days later. Yes, it was that nice. And coming from a biased southern Californian this is saying something.

I am a bit surprised that I took the next step of my stamp collecting journey in a most unlikely place; on an island I never thought I would ever visit and a store I would have never walked into if it wasn't for a hungry pregnant friend. (Love you, Krista!) I am really thankful for the experience and for the owner of that store. He recollected his own stamp collecting journey as we leafed through the musty pages, the reminiscing about past lives came easily to us both. It was an immediate connection.

I have never really considered stamp clubs, or groups, or meetings, or whatever they're called, but now I think I would like to go to one and see what it's all about.

This Friday Judy, Josh and I are going to the San Diego Philatelic Library and getting some help with our own collection. Just one more step to becoming a legit philatelist.

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