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You may advance from this point secure in the knowl-edge that you are now reasonably well grounded in the art of stamp collecting. And you will be ready to enjoyall the pleasures the hobby offers to the myriad of othercollectors throughout the world. Let me caution you against being over ambitious at thestart. Be content with an initial packet of one or twothousand different stamps—at the most two thousand.A little story will well illustrate my point. A friend askedme to get a stamp-collecting outfit for his fourteen-year-old son and wanted to know what it would cost. Aboutfive dollars, I told him. He scoffed at the idea. Why onlyfive dollars? Why could he not get his son a big albumand, instead of a thousand different stamps, why not abig packet? Everything I said against this idea was of noavail. In the end the father bought his son a beautifullarge album and a packet of twelve thousand differentstamps. The father thought that he was providing hisson with something better than average and so givinghim a better-than-ordinary start. The boy, of course,was pleased beyond words when he got his Christmaspresent. Both father and son sat down to sort outthe stamps. Here was a real father-son project withhours of pleasure stretching out ahead of them. Certainlya fascinating picture indeed. Yet within a single hour thefather-son team was undergoing strained relations. Thetwelve thousand different stamps presented an unbeliev-able problem. The son, dependent upon Dad for superiorknowledge of all things, was becoming disillusioned rap-idly. Dad, at first embarrassed, was getting desperate. Hefinally mumbled an excuse and went back to his pipeand book. Son continued for a little longer listlessly turn-ing over the pile of stamps. Within a few weeks thestamps found their way into the attic where they lie to |
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