Philately is probably the most popular hobby outside sport, and it has been so for a very long time. Far from being a spare-time hobby, it would now be a full time job to collect the stamps of the whole world, and most collectors choose to specialise in a few specific countries. Some still prefer not to restrict their collection to a handful of countries and instead choose a theme, probably connected with their own interests.
Every stamp collector likes to have in his collection what is one of the most famous stamps in the world, the PENNY BLACK, an unperforated stamp showing the head of Queen Victoria. This, along with the TWOPENNY BLUE, was the first postage stamp to be issued anywhere in the world. As Britain was the first country to use pre-paid adhesive stamps for its postal service in 1840, it was not considered necessary to include the name of the country in the design, and Britain is still the only country in the world whose stamps do not bear its own name.
British stamps changed hardly at all in their first hundred years. Queen Victoria insisted that the same youthful image of her head should be used throughout her reign but commemorative stamps were issued exceptionally for the 1924 Empire Exhibition at Wembley. This was a time when philatelists found the stamps of other counties far more exotic than the home-grown product.
This state of affairs continued until well into the reign of the present Queen. Although the picture started to change when George VI came to the throne, the Second World War intervened, and only a few commemoratives appeared during his reign.
1966 was quite a year for stamp collectors. It was also the year when the World Cup Football Competition was held in Britain, and the special FOURPENNY STAMP was overprinted with the words "England winners" after the happy outcome.
In the seventies, chemistry, energy resources, broadcasting sailing, sport and social reform were some of the other themes treated in a similar way. But the general trend was towards more naturalistic representation: trees, flowers, horses, dogs, birds.... Famous people also began to figure regularly on stamps: poets, writers, explorers and composers, and the anniversaries of several famous Brithish painters were used as a nice excuse to reproduce in miniature some paintings. Many people think that stamps are the world´s most popular miniature art form. It is definitely cultural and scientific life which British stamps designers choose to represent.
So for many years, British stamps have taken people on a wonderful journey through Britain and its society, celebrating important events and anniversaries, heroic achievments, showing the British way of life. Meticulously researched and beautifully designed, stamp collecting opens a window to the world, and they capture the richness and diversity of British life like no other.
