Apfelbaum’s Corner – Volume 8

There aren’t many collectors today who would remember my father. This is their loss, because in today’s hectic world it is a novelty to find a person like him. Spending an hour with a new collector, man or boy, instructing in the “house” of philately, was far more important to my father than selling a hundred valuable stamps. By telling one of his endless, inimitable anecdotes, he could kindle the flame in any novice collector. His philosophy, that life was more than seeking an ever bigger business and increasing wealth, could well be reconsidered today.

Nevertheless, just as my father was patient and understanding with new and appreciative philatelists, he was perturbed and annoyed by the silliness and nonsense that has always attached itself to the hem of philately.

My father was for stamp collecting, for fun and for learning. He could never understand why anyone would want to introduce the worries of speculation, the responsibilities of influencing our Post Office Department, and the undue concern over pristine gum into our otherwise unblemished hobby. He would be aghast at some of today’s schemes to promote even more needless issues. We are proud that in our formative years, we had such a head of our business.