Stamp stories

Stamp collecting may start as a childhood hobby but it can lead to a lifetime of discovery and enjoyment. I started a stamp collection before I hit my teens. My father traveled widely and sent us postcards. One of my siblings collected the postcards; another collected the matchbooks my dad also picked up in Europe or the States (he stopped smoking decades later). I collected the stamps.

It was a small collection but I was fascinated by the images and the themes they carried. My favorite was the space race with the rocket ships and astronauts who boldly went where no one dared go before. I bagged my prize with a First Day Cover (FDC) of the manned landing on the moon in July 1969. That also spelled the end of my collecting days since I did not have any outside help to egg me on. I had no stamp clubs to join and there were no books on stamp collecting in the Philippines to guide me.

Finally, someone had the great idea to publish one after 150 years of Philippine philately (stamp collecting, to the uninitiated) — Dr. Mina Gabor, president of the Philippine Small and Medium Business Development Foundation and an indefatigable advocate of Philippine tourism.

The coffee-table book is Stamps of the Philippines: Historical and Topical Collections 1854-2004, written by Lisa Mapua and edited by Mimi de Jesus. It is a content-packed tome on the historical and cultural significance of Philippine postage stamps. The book was published with the support of the Department of Tourism, the Philippine Postal Corporation, Asya Design Partners and the Pag-Ibig Fund.

The book is made up of 13 comprehensive and reader-friendly chapters on the history and evolution of Philippine stamps. Philippine stamps are depicted by era, starting from the Spanish colonial period, which looks at the European genesis of stamps, all the way to stamps during the Aguinaldo Revolutionary Government — yes, we did print our own; another proof that we were indeed the first democratic independent republic in this part of the globe.

Next are chapters on the American and Commonwealth periods, the Japanese Occupation and the immediate postwar period. Finally, the current Philippine Republic is covered through the pre- and post-martial law years.

The book also looks at topical collections. Key philatelic topics like historical personages, flora and fauna, religion, Rizaliana, religion, arts and culture, and milestones in Philippine institutions, business and politics, are celebrated in stamps.

Gabor and her editorial team had an immense job of looking at literally all the stamps issued in the country until 2004. This is an estimated 4,000 of those, including posted letters.  Their efforts also took them to Spain for some of the earliest Philippine stamps — hundreds of philatelic gems kept in the vaults of the Museo de Madrid. 

Dr. Gabor notes that she wanted “people to realize that the Philippine stamp collection is sought after worldwide and is one of the oldest … We featured many significant firsts and revealed many facets of Philippine stamps — from the colorful and the historical to stamps that brilliantly capture the different aspects of Filipino life.”

One of the world’s oldest and most important philatelic artifacts is the Queen Isabella II issued in 1854, four years after Spain issued its first stamp and 14 years before the priceless Queen Victoria Penny Black, the world’s first stamp issued in London.  Today, the Queen Isabella II is estimated at $1 million. 

The book highlights many historical milestones and little-known facts about Philippine history and culture. The American period ushered in many firsts with Jose Rizal becoming the first Filipino ever to appear on a stamp (1906).  In 1928, the Rizal stamp became the first and only stamp in the country to be sold via vending machine, although it did not last long because the tropical heat kept fusing the rolls of stamps.

The first basketball stamp in the world was issued in the Philippines as part of the 1934 Tenth Far Eastern Championship Games Issue. This set of stamps also happened to be the first in the country to carry a sports theme.  A stamp celebrating tennis is part of this series — tennis having been introduced decades earlier and made more popular by the previous American Governor General Dwight Davis (after whom the Davis Cup was named).

Noted in the book as a favorite series among philatelists is the 1932 set featuring scenic scenes like Mayon Volcano and the Ifugao Rice Terraces. I was pleased to note this as I have a few stamps from the series but not the most valuable one, which is the stamp with a printing error. The Pagsanjan Falls stamp shows the image of Vernal Falls in Yosemite National Park in California, not the once popular tourist destination in Laguna.  This stamp is one of the most sought after in the world.  

Dr. Gabor came up with the idea for the stamp book to honor the legacy of her step-grandfather Dr. Emilio Teotico Licauco, one of the country’s earliest stamp collectors. Dr. Licauco got her started in the pursuit of these little gems and eventually bequeathed his invaluable collection to her. 

She kept it in a bank vault until 1986, when she decided to organize the collection. Tragedy struck, however, and the priceless collection was almost totally lost. She recalled, “That night we had a fire in the house and we lost everything.  I was so depressed because I knew how important my grandfather’s stamps were. So I decided I should do something to make up for the loss. I told myself that one day, I would do something on the subject of stamps.”

Mina hopes “that the book’s colorful, highly visual and informative format will engage the most seasoned philatelists and inspire non-collectors to start their very own stamp collection.” The book ends with a short but informative section on how to start a stamp collection.

Reading the book got me dusting my old collection again. I have mostly stamps on buildings and places. I only have a few of my childhood collection left, though, except for the FDC of Apollo 11. I do have stamps of the UP Golden celebrations, a number of prewar series and even modern architecture by way of the CCP, DBP and the Ortigas building openings.

The Internet has changed our way of communicating but I believe that snail mail will make a comeback. There is nothing like receiving a handwritten letter or postcard. Digital media cannot replicate the experience of handling and reading a message from someone far away. So long as it’s not a bill.

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For more information on where to get the book, contact Martin Romualdez of Ad Verbum at 889-8332 local 132 or e-mail mhromualdez@ddbphil.com.

Feedback is welcome. Please e-mail the writer at paulo.alcazaren@gmail.com.