My stamp collection began as a child. When I was young I fell in love with stamps. It was initially the tiny artwork of the postage stamp that caught my eye. Then it was the infinite variety and the people and places that the stamp represents. It was also a connection to my family. My paternal grandmother got me started, giving me my father’s childhood stamp album. He died when I was twelve and his 1964 Stamps of the World album is probably my most precious heirloom from him. It now is a connection to both of them.
However, growing up in a rural area, the album was a continuous frustration. I was an hour away from the nearest stamp dealer store and did not have a local club to join. I was on my own to figure out how to collect. Where was I going to find stamps in the late 1980s to go into this old album?
My maternal grandmother got me to start collecting contemporary stamps and with my paper route money I would buy blocks or sheets of stamps. I eventually inherited her collection of 1970s stamps to add to my own.
Music Stamps
My profession is music, and in particular research about the history of musical instruments. For many years, especially while I was also an active performer, I had little time to spend with my stamps and they sat in drawers for many years. Then, a few years ago, I discovered the wide array of music-themed stamps that have been made by countries around the world for more than a century. I was hooked! Here was a topic that brought together my expertise and my passion for stamps and my collection has grown. And grown. And grown.
I have collected stamps that have anything to do with music. I have stamps that feature musicians, composers, musical instruments, music venues, and even particular pieces or songs. What’s more, I love researching those stamps. I want to know more about the musicians and composers that are featured. I want to listen to music played on the instruments that have been featured on particularly countries stamps . . . and to understand why they were chosen. More importantly, I like to learn about the history of the individual stamps and how those themes relate to politics, history, and culture.
In addition to stamps as single issues, blocks of fours, and first day covers, I also collect other items of postal history. I am a sucker for a beautiful late nineteenth century advertising cover. If there is a nineteenth century music letter about a musical topic, if I can afford it, I will try to add it to my collection.
Other Resources
While the topic of music seems like a niche philatelic area, it is actually very large. According to Johann A Norstedt in 1997, there were between 13,000 and 14,000 music stamps to collect. Definitions of a music stamp differ, though I tend to collect in all areas, though only stamps I like. While other music collectors don’t collect post horn stamps, for example, are a favorite of mine.
There are other collectors of music themed stamps. Here are a couple of notable collectors and links to their collections:
Jascha Heifitz, the famed violinist, collected music-themed stamps and his colleciton is now at the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. Read more.
Henry Z. Steinway, the last member of the famous Steinway family to own the piano company, was also a collector of music-themed stamps (I also got to meet him several times). His collection is now at the Museum of Making Music in Carsblad, California. Check it out.
There is an entire organization devoted to the topic of music stamps, The Motivgruppe Musik in Germany.
The Music Stamps Blog
This blog is a chance to go deeper into the stories of the stamps. The stamps, covers, and postal history on this blog all come from my collection except for when I feature guest bloggers. This is a true vanity project and publication. I feature both pieces that I love, and those that I think are important to address. For example, I have very ambivalent feelings about the Legends of American Music stamp series. Yet, its importance is monumental and I will spend time delving into these stamps.
The blog will also feature all types of postal history. I gravitate towards the nineteenth century material and love to spend dime unravel the story behind a piece. I realize these posts are less useful to others, but I hope they may still be of interest to some.
Finally, this blog is for me to think about the meaning of the stamps, and what this can teach about music and musical culture. Understanding the iconography of stamps and interpreting their political and social implications can contribute a lot to our understanding of music. Most importantly, stamp collecting is a hobby, it is something to enjoy. I hope some of these posts will help others to learn more and enjoy their own collections more.
