MILLENNIALS AND STAMP COLLECTING

It was once a byword for boring, but it seems stamp collecting is finding a new – young – audience, despite the fact that some hobbyists have never actually posted a letter.

Philately is gaining popularity among millennials, many of whom see the creative pursuit as an escape from their screen-based lives, says 37-year-old Suzanne Rae, from North Yorkshire.

"Philately is tangible: it's relaxing and unplugged. It's also very Instagrammable," says Rae, who is only the second female chairman the Philatelic Traders Society has had in its 91-year history. "Twitter and Instagram enable young collectors to find people like them, and see that it's not only a geeky old man's pursuit."

Rae gave up her job as a management consultant two years ago to make her hobby her businessby starting an online stamp shop, Art Stamped. "We were one of the first stamp businesses using social media," she says.."

Nicholas Challinor-Halford, business manager at stamp auctioneer Harmers of London, believes that part of the millennial boom is the result of romantic notions of pre-digital life. "For Generation Y… [stamp] collecting is escapism with a nostalgic slant, giving collectors a physical link with the past."

One of the highlights of the stamp collectors' calendar is the Stampex show, held at the Business Design Centre in Islington, north London every autumn. "There are lots of younger people there," says Rae. "It's not fuddy duddy; it's engaging. You can … spend a lot of money but it's a hobby you can enjoy inexpensively too."

To read the complete article, see:
Post modern: why millennials have fallen in love with stamp collecting (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/apr/11/post-modern-why-millennials-have-fallen-in-love-with-stamp-collecting)

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