On October 1, 1981, the USPS began its very first National Stamp Collecting Month, a celebration that continues to this day.
The USPS and the Council of Philatelic Organizations created National Stamp Collecting Month in 1981. In announcing the annual celebration, then-Postmaster General William F. Bolger encouraged “employees and customers alike to discover the joy of stamp collecting – the hobby of a lifetime.”
That first year, the USPS produced a souvenir card picturing two stamps – US #245, the $5 Columbian, and #1918, the 1981 “Benefiting Mankind” stamp from that year’s Space Achievement issue. The theme that first year was “Discover Stamp Collecting – the Hobby of a Lifetime.” Click here to view the first Stamp Collecting Month souvenir card.
In 1982, another souvenir card was issued, picturing US #C3a, the legendary Inverted Jenny. The 1983 card pictured US #293, the Mississippi River Bridge from the Trans-Mississippi Exposition. The theme that year was “Discover the Beauty and Lore of Stamp Collecting… the Hobby of a Lifetime.” The 1984 card pictured US #2104, the Family Unity stamp, to go with the theme “Fall in Love with Stamp Collecting – A Family Hobby.”
In 1985, the USPS issued its first stamps specifically for National Stamp Collecting Month, picturing different breeds of horses. Ever since they’ve issued a set of stamps most years in early October or late September to celebrate National Stamp Collecting Month. Often, these stamps are geared toward children, to help increase interest in a new generation of collectors.
And whether or not a new set of stamps is issued each year, the USPS and local stamp groups often stage National Stamp Collecting Month events. Many years the USPS has also created special National Stamp Collecting Month cancelations.
See below for several of the past National Stamp Collecting Month issues. We’ve pictured a few of them, but you can click on any of the links to see the stamps, read more about them, and order them for your collection.
US #2240-43 – 1986 Woodcarved Figurines
US #2362-66 – 1987 Locomotives
US #2390-93 – 1988 Carousel Animals
US #2422-25 – 1989 Prehistoric Animals
US #2508-11 – 1990 Sea Creatures
US #2568-77 – 1991 Space Exploration
US #2705-09 – 1992 Wild Animals
US #2785-88 – 1993 Children’s Classics
US #2863-66 – 1994 Wonders of the Sea
US #3000 – 1995 Comic Strip Classics
US #3105 – 1996 Endangered Species
US #3168-72 – 1997 Classic Movie Monsters
US #3238-42 – 1998 Space Discovery
US #3351 – 1999 Insects and Spiders
US #3439-43 – 2000 Deep Sea Creatures
US #3661-64 – 2002 American Bats
US #3814-18 – 2003 Reptiles and Amphibians
US #3945-48 – 2005 Constellations
US #4203-04 – 2007 Polar Lights
US #4352 – 2008 Great Lakes Dunes
US #4806 – 2013 Inverted Jenny– Issued September 22 to coincide with the opening of the William H. Gross Gallery at the National Postal Museum
US #5021-30 – 2015 A Charlie Brown Christmas
*US #5149-52 – 2016 Wonder Woman
*US #5243-46 – 2017 “The Snowy Day” by Ezra Jack Keats
*US #5321-30 – 2018 Hot Wheels
*US #5420-23 – 2019 Spooky Silhouettes
*US #5532-41 – 2020 Winter Scenes
US #5648-51 – 2021 Otters in Snow
*US #5726 – 2022 Charles Schulz Sheet of 20
* For some of these recent years, the USPS didn’t announce which stamps were issued for National Stamp Collecting Month, so we’ve listed stamps issued in late September or early October that were likely issued for the occasion.
| FREE printable This Day in History album pages Download a PDF of today’s article. Get a binder or other supplies to create your This Day in History album. |
Discover what else happened on This Day in History.
Happy National Stamp Collecting Monrh!!!! I love to collect the US stamps also Canadian Stamps and British Stamps (Royal Mail).
I started collecting stamps when I was in the Boy Scouts in the later 1950s, and they helped me learn a lot about history and geography. But I “paused” when I went to college and began a long teaching career. I always thought I would resume collecting and did so after retiring about 50 years later. It may seem odd, but with older stamps, 1800s and early 1900s, I sort of prefer the used variety, because they were actually used by a live human being a long time ago.
I agree; the fact is mint stamps pretty as they are are simply reciepts because they never carried the mail, never performed a ‘job’.
I too returned to stamp collecting after I retired. I started at age 12 but then work and life intervened. So happy to be back collecting. A great hobby. I too like the older stamps and collect both US and foreign
I too returned to stamp collecting after I retired. Such a wonderful hobby and one learns so much. I am using my original Ambassdor album from the mid 1950’s.
started in the earily 70″s thanks to a neighbor A short break with marriage and kids but always found a .minute to try to keep up. the fine details of the older stamps 40″s to 60″s are what i most enjoy.
Many of us have a similar story. We started collecting in elementary school, paused for s few decades and then resumed later in life. We all recognize how much we learned about history and geography. We all find stamp collecting brings great pleasure.
Joseph Giacalone
I started when I was in Elementary School, around 1971. I have learned as all responders have said, a lot of history and geography. I also learned to read in Russian and Greek. I am currently trying to learn to read Hebrew, although it seems that I am not as involved as I would be when I was younger. I still collect Worlwide and US stamps. My source is Mystic Stamps, and the USPS. I remember H E Harris, Carcelon or Garcelone, Stamps from Susan, as well as other dealers in the US, and a stamps dealer in Canada. I also remember the Elat Stamp Club, in Israel. And a dealer in Belgium and one in Argentina, that I purchased from. I also purchased from one in South East Asia.
Introduced to the hobby from my stamp collecting mother, I began collecting in the 1950s. College, kids, and business often paused my collecting. When U.S. stamps began drifting from historical commemoration to pop culture and the like, my interest ceased. Artwork on many modern U.S. stamps is outstanding, but like others, I favor the precise engraving of stamps past. During the pandemic lockdown, memories of snowy Saturday mornings of my youth, locked up in isolation with my albums and stamp-filled shoe boxes, re-surfaced. Thanks to Don and his fine staff, Mystic has helped immensely in getting me re-aquainted, educated, and slowly caught up.