I doubt that the old-time saying “At some time or other every boy collects stamps,” is true today. Many children do not collect stamps but not every one or probably even fifty percent of them. I don’t believe all children are born collectors inclined towards saving things of interest to them.

I do believe that when the world of the collector is opened up to them they get a wider vision of life. Touching a stamp from China, looking at a coin from ancient Greece or moving a chess piece of African ivory can have a vast influence on the average, curious child, if accompanying the action is an explanation of its significance. Our stamp albums for children fall down in not placing the space for specific stamps around the exciting story that each stamp can have.

It is not necessary to print an album for 50,000 varieties nor for new collectors to house every stamp by country. It is not even desirable to do so. A fresh look at album publishing might call for the issuance of a magazine-type of album on a monthly basis and formed around stories of stamps geared to the particular age group concerned.

The adult collectors of the next generation will come mostly from the child collectors of today. Can we afford to overlook any constructive means of interesting them in the life-long enjoyment of stamp collection?