Stamp collecting came of age as a hobby by 1890. By that date all of the major stamp catalogs (Scott in the US, Stanley Gibbons for British, Michel for German Area, and Yvert & Tellier for France and Colonies) were being published annually. There were hundreds of worldwide philatelic journals published weekly and monthly. Stamp dealer shops were pervasive in most big cities, and the number of serious stamp collectors numbered in the tens of thousands. “Second generation” (so called because most of the adult collectors of 1890 had been children when the first stamps were issued) was so active because the hobby was so exciting. “Finds” were still pervasive, and old correspondences often yielded scarce and valuable stamps. There were enough collectors for there to be high demand and high prices and enough older letters and attics from the earliest stamp days to make philatelic prospecting rewarding and fun.
Postal agencies worldwide climbed onboard the stamp collecting popularity train. The Portuguese philatelic agency issued hundreds of long sets for her African colonies, many of which had little more Portuguese government than a Post Office and a flag. France was even more profligate with her long Peace and Commerce sets issued in the 1890’s for her colonies, amounting to nearly a thousand stamps. The United States Post Office was hardly immune from exploiting 1890’s collector demand. In 1893, the Columbian exposition set was issued by the USPO. Designed by the American Bank Note Company, the set had $1-$5 values making it the highest value set the US ever had issued (and indeed would not issue a set with higher face value for another hundred years). Sales were slower than hoped, and many of the higher value Columbians were destroyed. But even so, the gross to the Post Office was enormous, and most of the stamps were never used making the set a profit bonanza—the first of many times the USPO used collectors to help its bottom line.
Canada got into the act in 1898, with the Canadian Jubilee set, marking the sixtieth anniversary of the rule of Queen Victoria. The Jubilee set was also designed by the American Bank Note Company, and the values are the same, and the designs have a similar feel to the US Columbian issue. Canada was a bit late to the table though. By the late 1890’s, so many worldwide new issues, made solely for collectors, had soured philatelists. Sales of the Jubilees were low. Today they rank as one the of the stamp world’s most popular sets.