I have been collecting postage stamps since my parents bought me my first stockbook for my 7th birthday, so my first stamps are now over 30 years old! It was my gateway into my other collections as well. I have even previously written about my philatelic passion. However, this hobby, while full of other wonderful and passionate people, does tend to skew a bit older in demographics. When I go to local stamp shows, I am often one of the youngest people there. This is fine with me, but I do admit to getting excited every time I meet someone my own age who has a stamp collection or even betrays the slightest interest in it (sorry for talking your ears off!).
This is why I was thrilled to hear about the new StampEd online magazine coming out from the American Philatelic Society, of which I’m a proud member. This magazine is directed towards a younger (or younger at heart) demographic as well as those who are new to philately (or people like me who just like collecting but get intimidated sometimes by all the terminology). I immediately sent the Editor-in-Chief, Susanna Mills, an email with a giant list of article ideas. She was an utter sweetheart and responded positively to me, giving me the chance to contribute to this online magazine.
I got to nerd out and write about thermochromic ink (ink that changes color with heat) and stamps, interviewing wonderful creative directors who were incredibly generous with their time and thoughts. Please check out the inaugural issue of StampEd (permanent link), whether you’re interested in philately or art or the many different topics that philately touches on, and share it far and wide. Let’s get more (and younger!) people interested in this hobby!