Vintage Postage Stamp Albums

Perhaps my customers have wondered where my philately comes from.  While I sometimes wish I had a magic key to a secret stamp cove where everything is already organized and readily available upon request, that's rarely ever the case.  Acquiring and managing philatelic inventory is a perpetual and rather complex process that varies from stamp to stamp or from collection by collection. 

Often when I purchase a private collection, on an organizational level, it's nothing short of a messy crime scene.  The stamps in the collection may be on or off paper, still hinged and/or mounted in an album, filed away in glassines, envelopes, stock books or just randomly tossed in a box or bag.  It often takes days, weeks, months and even years to process a collection.  Sometimes processing such philately is a soothing and melodic process, other times it's extremely stressful and may even cause me to question how or why I came to be a philatelist in the first place.

Last night I acquired a reasonably sized collection containing a lot of beautiful, classic vintage stamp albums.  Although these albums may seem common to me, I imagined that my customers may never have seen them before.  Just like stamps the (cover) art is so historic and the quality of the albums so beautiful that it speaks to a time and place far from our current reality.  This vintage ephemera brings me so much joy, I'd like to share a few of my favorite album covers with you.

Modern Postage Stamp Album, published by Scott Stamp & Coin Co., Ltd. in 1952.

Modern Postage Stamp Album(s), published by Scott Stamp & Coin Co., Ltd. in 1930.

Modern Postage Stamp Album, published by Scott Stamp & Coin Co., Ltd. in 1933.

The Imperial Postage Stamp Album, published by Scott Stamp & Coin Co., Ltd. in 1931.

The Adventurer Album for Postage Stamps of the World, published by H.E. Harris & Co. in 1934.

Globe Stamp Book, published by E. M. Kovar in 1931.

Imperial Stamp Album, published by Scott Stamp & Coin Co., Ltd. in ?

The World United States and Foreign Postage Stamp Album, published by Stamp & Album Co. of America in 1948.

I hope you enjoyed this little glance into my treasure trove!