Thematic Philately
John Hayward, Vice Chairman of the
British Thematic Association, explains
what Thematics are all about
This article will look at the origins of
thematic collecting and its subsequent
development. It will also cover how to
go about choosing a theme or subject
and then developing the chosen theme
via the whole range of philatelic
material available. Something will be
mentioned of how to identify and
where to obtain the material and of the
thematic organisations that can assist
the thematic collector.
Origins of Thematic Collecting
Thematic collecting as its name
suggests is all about collecting by
theme or subject (topic in the USA), Figure 1
rather than by country or geographical area. Surprisingly,
it has been around for at least a century although it has
only burgeoned since WWII. In the early 20th Century a few stamp collectors
made the design on the stamp the focus of their attention. As designs of
stamps gradually became more varied from simple heads of state definitives,
so collecting by the design increased. Animals, plants and birds provided the
most material to collect. After WWII thematic collecting really took off in
Europe and the USA especially when it was realised that completion of a
specific country or area was becoming impossible and that other philatelic
material could be added to the collection to make it more interesting, e.g. Figure 2 Postage
postal stationery, handstamps, metermarks, booklets, etc. (figure 1). Indeed, Paid Indicium
nowadays the range of collectable material may also include telegrammes,
perfins, postcards, private illustrated envelopes, postage paid indicia
(figure 2) and much more.
Choice of Theme
It has to be said at the outset that pure thematic
collecting is not bound by any rules. Thematic
collectors do whatever gives them the most
satisfaction. What you collect is entirely up to you,
the collector. The choice of the theme is solely yours
as is the range of material you want to collect. If you
just want to collect stamps on your theme, then do so, or you
could collect all material except postcards. Alternatively you could Figure 3 Metermark for Petrol
collect all material up to or after a certain date. Your wallet or
purse may dictate this anyway!
Most thematic collectors will tell you that they decided to collect their
particular theme because it links in with their occupation, studies, hobby
or social interests. So, if you work in the oil industry why not collect oil
or petrol (figure 3) as your theme, if you are a chemist then collect
pharmacy or a court official then collect the law or justice. If you are
retired you could collect your previous occupation or your hobby or
social interest. Your hobby may be stamps, so stamps on stamps could be
the solution (figure 4), or it could be steam trains, sport or music. There
will be plenty of material on these last three themes, but it would be as
well to limit oneself to certain steam trains, to just one sport as opposed Figure 4
to sport generally and to one composer or form of music.
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Postal services is a most interesting theme and stretches back
over the centuries, so it would be best to collect one aspect of the
postal service, say by horse (figure 5) or during wartime. One
particularly well known thematic collector who had received a
heart transplant uniquely chose a theme personal to himself —
the heart.
It is not just a question of one’s pocket being deep enough, but
the huge amount of material available for say football or the Figure 5
Olympics does mean you should limit the
period involved or perhaps just to one
Olympiad or even to one competition. Be
careful also that there is not too little available
on your chosen theme. For instance, for a
famous person who greatly interests you there
may be very little available philatelically.
The great bonus in collecting a particular theme
is that you do not have to worry about
obtaining items that were issued
contemporaneously as your theme. For
example, should you choose David Livingstone
(1813-1873) as your theme, there is probably no
philatelic material available from his lifetime
unless you are prepared to pay a fortune for Figure 6
letters from or to him. However, there is a Racing Car in Selvedge
veritable mine of inexpensive material available
on the great man from the latter part of the 20th
Century to date.
Developing the Theme
Variety is the spice of life so far as thematic collecting is concerned.
Collecting only stamps on a theme is fine for some, but to make the
collection that much more interesting all the different types of philatelic
material from as many countries as possible should be collected. You will
not just enjoy hunting down all this material, but it may be that only an Figure 7
item of postal stationery or a handstamp rather than a stamp captures the Overprint for
particular event or circumstance you want to illustrate regarding your Car Races
theme.
Starting with stamps though, the collector should not forget that they
come in all sorts of formats including miniature sheets, local stamps and
with printing on the selvedge and reverse. Your theme may not be
depicted in the stamp within the miniature sheet, but in the surrounding
printing (figure 6). Stamps are often overprinted or surcharged and the
overprint or surcharge may illustrate part of your theme (figure 7).
Cinderella material which includes local stamps should not be forgotten as
a thematic source for one’s collection (figure 8). The selvedge to a sheet of
stamps may include an advertisement or illustration (figures 9 and 10)
relevant to your theme. The reverse of a stamp may carry an underprint or
an adhesive label that fits your theme perfectly (figure 11).
Handstamps, special cancellations, postmarks and cachets of all kinds
applied to the post are a rich source of thematic material. These can even
go back to the 18th Century. A very popular feature of thematic collecting
are town postmarks related to one’s theme. Many towns for instance are
named after famous people or a geographical feature. Sporting
connections abound like Bowler (cricket), Wembley (football) and Golf
(golf) and there are even registered labels for mobile post offices at Figure 8
sporting events and exhibitions (figure 12). There are handstamps and Dutch Local
special cancellations in abundance from all over the world on every Town Post
Stamp Lover Vol. 100 June 2008 [Link]/nps 129
Figure 9 Advertisement for Toothpaste in the Selvedge
Figure 10 Postal Services in Selvedge
Figure 12
Mobile PO at Bicycle
Figure 11 and Motorcycle Show Figure 13
Self-adhesive Label Handstamp for Sailors,
Showing Leisure Pursuits Soldiers and Police
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conceivable theme. They
start in earnest in the
1920s and increase
dramatically after WWII
(figures 13 and 14).
Cachets are postal
markings applied to mail
either by a special stamp
to denote a particular Figure 14
service or its failure, or Fight Against Figure 15 Too Late for Delivery Cachet
by hand. There are a Pollution
great number of these
(figure 15), but they do add
interest to a thematic collection.
The much maligned and humble
metermark is also a rich hunting ground
for the thematic collector. Metermarks
with words only appear from the 1910s
onwards. Illustrated metermarks
appeared from the mid 1920s. They
abound from the economically developed Figure 16 Chain Manufacturer
countries like Germany, France, UK and
USA (figures 16-18 ), but are very thin on
the ground from Third World countries.
Postal stationery starts around 1870 although
the Mulready cover of 1840 is considered as
postal stationery and can be used for several
themes displayed in its illustrations. For
thematic collectors several features of postal
stationery are of interest. The imprinted Figure 17 Christmas
stamp itself, the picture on the front at the left
or on the reverse (figure 19), or the
advertisements it contains on the outside or
inside (figure 20). The advertisements can be
numerous and tracking down one’s theme
amongst them can become a daunting
though challenging task particularly in a
foreign language. It should not be forgotten
that postal stationery comes in a variety of Figure 18 Insects
formats, e.g. envelopes, postal cards, letter
sheets, air letters, airgrammes, etc.
Much akin to postal stationery are
telegrammes – a form of postal
communication and therefore eminently
collectable by the thematic collector. Many
telegrammes from the 1920s onwards carry
advertisements or illustrations ideal for
thematic collectors (figures 21 and 22).
Booklets from their very early days around
1900 up to the present reflect an enormous
variety of themes. The theme may be
depicted on the front or back cover, both
inside and outside (figure 23), on the
stamps themselves or on the interleaves
protecting the stamps (figure 24).
Advertisers are plenty as are illustrations.
Figure 19 Road Safety
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Figure 20
Numerous Themes are
Covered in the Adverts
Figure 21
Telegramme—Cinzano Advert
Figure 22 Telegramme
—Various Sports—
Figure 23
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Postcards are regarded by many as non-philatelic as they
are not issued by a post office, but that is no reason for a
thematic collector to refrain from collecting them. You may
collect what you like and postcards just add that extra bit
of variety and interest to a collection (figure 25). They
come in vast numbers though on some themes and it may
be as well to limit oneself to just a few in the collection
perhaps to a particular event or a period in time.
Maximum cards, where the picture, postage stamp and
handstamp all depict the same subject, represent a
specialised area of collecting postcards.
Many of us like to collect stamps on commercial or first
day of issue covers. The former may be the only way to
obtain a stamp on cover as a first day cover may not exist.
The latter may be a means of obtaining a special first day
of issue handstamp (figure 26). These are well worth
collecting from a thematic point of view. Indeed, some
stamps commercially used on cover may be quite rare and
thus enhance the collection.
Figure 24 Belgian Congo
There are many illustrated commercial covers produced Booklet Interleaf
privately by manufacturers, commercial outlets (figure 27),
shops, organisations etc., which, although like postcards
are not philatelic, are nonetheless collectible—they fall in
the social philately category. They can make a fine display
as some of them are beautifully designed and fill that spot
in a thematic collection that explains part of a story the
collector has been wanting to tell for years (figure 28).
There are many other forms of philatelic material available
for the thematic collector. What about watermarks?
Pineapples, roses and anchors have been used over the
years. Perfins, used by commercial outlets mainly for
security reasons, are a good source of thematic material
(figure 29). The more recent postage paid indicia (PPIs)
should not be overlooked either. Then there are artists
drawings, essays, proofs (figure 30), specimens, not to
mention errors, etc., the list is almost endless. Yet this only
goes to show that the postage stamp is simply the starting
point for any thematic collector who wants to have a really
worthwhile collection.
Where Does One Start?
Figure 25
This is a very good question, having chosen one’s theme.
Obviously you have to start with a
checklist of some sort of what is available
on your theme. It is nigh on impossible
nowadays to wade through stamp
catalogues of the world looking for stamps
on a particular theme because there are
thousands of stamps and then there are the
items not in catalogues—where do you go
to find out about them? There are a number
of thematic societies based in the UK, e.g.
Bird Stamp Society, Scout & Guide Stamp
Club, Ship Stamp Society, etc., who supply
checklists to their members. There are also
thematic catalogues published by Stanley
Gibbons and Domfil by Afinsa (Spain).
Stanley Gibbons has published several Figure 26
Stamp Lover Vol. 100 June 2008 [Link]/nps 133
thematic catalogues in its “Collect Stamps”
series, such as Birds, Chess, Fish, Fungi,
Railways, Ships and Motor Vehicles. These are
all very good starting points. The American
Topical Association has available for purchase
by its members a large number of handbooks
on many topics plus thematic checklists of
stamps. The catalogue numbers used in each
instance though are Scott and the handbooks
and checklists may be somewhat out of date.
Keeping up to date on new issues of your
theme also needs to be considered. Stanley
Gibbons Stamp Monthly is recommended for
details of new issues. Also the German
catalogue publishers, Michel, operate a
subscription service where details of new
issues may be obtained online. Some of the
specialist thematic societies provide details of Figure 27 Banking Theme
new issues.
Ascertaining what is available other than stamps
on a given theme is not so easy. Some of the
specialist thematic societies do have lists available
for items like handstamps or booklets. Otherwise
it comes down to collectors hunting down
material for themselves via dealers or auctions,
through fellow collectors of the same theme or
even from looking at thematic exhibits at local and
national events. Local stamp fairs are often a good
starting point. Many stamp dealers have stocks of
thematics including postcards and once you
become known to a dealer they will often keep
items on one side for you. Some dealers offer new
issue services for various popular themes and this
is a good way to keep up to date. There is one
downside to buying stamps on a given theme
though. You may have to buy a set of three or four
stamps or even more to obtain the one stamp you Figure 28 Commercial Advert
require as many dealers will not split sets. A good
way to dispose of the unwanted stamps is via your
local philatelic society’s stamp
packet.
Finally, the book Handbook of
Thematic Philately by W.E.J. van
den Bold published by James
Bendon Ltd., PO Box 6484,
Limassol, Cyprus, in 1990 is to
be recommended to all
thematic collectors and the
British Thematic Association,
Figure 29 will be able to assist with
Birmingham thematic collecting generally
Small Arms Perfin (Membership Secretary,
Peter Denly, 9 Oaklands Park,
Bishops Stortford, Herts.
CM23 2BY).
Figure 30 Proof
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