While on a buying tour through Florida during October and November, I conversed with well over one hundred collectors. All except a dozen or so insisted that the precautions necessary to protest against the gum and stamp damage caused by a hot humid climate did not apply to them.

I heard such inane statements as: “I keep my stamps in a dry closet,” and “I use mounts on all my stamps.” From where I am sitting, it seems obvious that without climate control of some sort, humidity will get into a closet just as easily as it gets into a closed-up basement or attic. And mounts have never been known to protect gum that is softened by high temperatures and dampness.

The only sure-fire protection for unused stamps in hot, humid areas is a well regulated air conditioning system. This is a very low cost investment in comparison to the value of most collections and if limited to only one room in a house, the investment in climate control is practically nil.

There is never any justifiable reason for anyone losing a collection by not caring for it. That is, there is no reason other than the one of being blind to the experiences of thousands of other collectors.