Perhaps one of the most oft-heard concerns voiced amongst philatelists is that the hobby of stamp collecting is at risk of dying out.  No longer does every kid have a stamp collection, as they did decades ago.  Many are also turned off by the proliferation of new issues from post offices worldwide, including those so blatantly targeted to collectors that one will in all likelihood never see them used on an envelope.

While both of the comments above may indeed be true, to conclude therefore that they mark the downfall of philately is quite another matter.  In fact, the opposite is true – stamp collecting is enjoying a Renaissance.

I will leave some of the reasons for this for a future post, but will share this column, from the UK’s Independent.  From singer-songwriter Sophie Ellis-Bextor, to French President Nicholas Sarkozy, to thousands and thousands of 30-and-40-something professionals looking for a respite from a hectic work life, stamp collecting continues on as “the King of Hobbies, and the Hobby of Kings.”