Post by rayb on Mar 30, 2015 14:21:27 GMT -5
A friend of mine has just bought me Karl Sabbagh's book Your Case Is Hopeless, which is an anthology of answers to readers' questions from the Boys' Own Paper, a British weekly magazine published in the late 19th century by the Religious Tract Society. Since stamp collecting was popular with boys at that time they received many queries about it. To say the least, the editor was not encouraging. He was much more in favour of boys getting out into the fresh air and bathing in cold water. Here are some of his replies:
In the dim future, when we have nothing else to do, we will issue a special number containing nothing but the full particulars and prices of the four hundred stamps you enquire about. It will be so interesting to other readers!
The black penny English stamp is not at all rare and can be bought now for a penny.
We have already answered the question several times. We know of noone who will purchase old penny postage stamps, nor do we know of any use to which they can be put, unless it is to line fancy boxes etc. It is a mere popular delusion that they are of marketable value.
If G.E.R. wants to find a use for his old penny stamps he might make snakes out of them for the amusement of children. You get a piece of string sufficiently long to represent the snake and to one end tie a cork cut in the shape of a snake's head, and then thread the stamps on the string, using halfpenny stamps as you get near the tail.
For about the hundredth time we reply that the Post Office does not buy used penny postage stamps - nor does anyone else.
Your used stamps are worth about eighteen pence a hundredweight [51 kg]. Any marine-store dealer will buy them. We do our best to dissuade boys from being so foolish as to collect them.
You say you would be much obliged if we could keep all our old stamps and envelopes for you for a week or two and send them to you by parcel delivery. Our regret is extreme that we can NOT oblige you!
In the dim future, when we have nothing else to do, we will issue a special number containing nothing but the full particulars and prices of the four hundred stamps you enquire about. It will be so interesting to other readers!
The black penny English stamp is not at all rare and can be bought now for a penny.
We have already answered the question several times. We know of noone who will purchase old penny postage stamps, nor do we know of any use to which they can be put, unless it is to line fancy boxes etc. It is a mere popular delusion that they are of marketable value.
If G.E.R. wants to find a use for his old penny stamps he might make snakes out of them for the amusement of children. You get a piece of string sufficiently long to represent the snake and to one end tie a cork cut in the shape of a snake's head, and then thread the stamps on the string, using halfpenny stamps as you get near the tail.
For about the hundredth time we reply that the Post Office does not buy used penny postage stamps - nor does anyone else.
Your used stamps are worth about eighteen pence a hundredweight [51 kg]. Any marine-store dealer will buy them. We do our best to dissuade boys from being so foolish as to collect them.
You say you would be much obliged if we could keep all our old stamps and envelopes for you for a week or two and send them to you by parcel delivery. Our regret is extreme that we can NOT oblige you!
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