Maxine Mangiafico, Bill Hamilton, and Robert Lund are philatelists — and if that word is frightening, rest easy. It merely means that Ms Mangiafico of Newtown, Mr Hamilton of Patterson, N.Y., and Mr Lund of Brewster, N.Y., are stamp collectors. They are among the nearly three dozen registered members of the Brookfield Philatelic Society, and are enthusiastic about the exhibit of stamp collections and stamp collecting paraphernalia the club has on display at the C.H. Booth Library through early April.

Two large glass-topped cases and one vertical glass case located near the Young Adult Department of the library are filled with carefully placed examples of the many kinds of stamps members of the society collect. There are postage stamps, hunting stamps, stamps from near and stamps from far on display. Magnifying glasses (one of the most valuable stamp collecting tools, according to Mr Hamilton, the club’s president), tweezers, mount cutters, and wetting trays are among the simple items serious and amateur collectors use to create collections.

Mr Lund and Mr Hamilton have been collectors since boyhood, while Ms Mangiafico fell into the hobby unexpectedly when her father left her “boxes and boxes” of unorganized stamps 30 years ago. The stamps, mainly European, were to go to her son, Paul, but she wanted to put them in some kind of order for him. It has been a long haul, and she still has a ways to go, Ms Mangiafico laughed, but she does intend for her father’s grandson — now quite grown up — to eventually possess the collection.

About five years ago, overwhelmed by the effort, she discovered the Brookfield Philatelic Society and joined. “I found it fun and so interesting, and I like learning about the different countries and the stamps themselves,” she said.

“She was completely green,” agreed Mr Lund, “but she’s come a long way. I was amazed at what [her father] had [in the collection].”

Mr Lund’s fascination with stamps started when he was only 8 years old, encouraged by his mother. But as the division manager for UPS for many years and owner of a video store in Danbury, the hobby fell by the roadside. “I heard about the society, though, from customers. That was in the 80s, and I wasn’t seriously collecting,” he said. With his family grown, he embraced the hobby once again in 1995, and rejoined the club. He loves the learning experience stamp collecting provides.

“Over the years, different countries publish a lot of stamps that reflect each one’s heritage, history, products, art, architecture, and more. And,” Mr Lund said, “they’re pretty.”

Mr Hamilton recalled his grandmother taking him to Gimbels Department Store in New York City to see Santa in the 1950s. “Then we would go up to the floor with stamp collections in glass cases. I liked them so much,” he said. But those stamps were expensive. Instead, they would head downtown to Canal Street. “In the subway stations, there would be stamp dealers. You could buy a big packet for not much. That’s what got me started,” Mr Hamilton said.

Girls, school, Vietnam, and life came along and his stamp collecting halted. Then he retired, and his wife suggested he find a hobby to fill the days. Around the same time, he and his wife hosted a brunch at their home for the Land Trust. Mr Lund was then the head steward.

“I wasn’t even going to go to the luncheon,” confessed Mr Lund, “but as head steward, I had to go.” Mr Hamilton also attended the luncheon.

The men realized their common interest in stamp collecting, and have been close friends since. Mr Hamilton joined the Brookfield club in 2007, “And that turned into a winner,” he said. Now, his stamp collection numbers in the thousands upon thousands, he said.

People collect stamps for a number of reasons, and people collect stamps in a variety of ways. Mr Hamilton’s father collected only “mint sheets,” full sheets solely of the military, from the 1930s and 1940s.

Some people are “topical collectors,” meaning that they prefer to focus on one aspect of a stamp. It might be stamps depicting trains, or flowers, or bridges. It could be a stamp collection featuring only animals or birds, or a particular species. Flags, fine arts, a certain country, and the military are among the thousands of other ways people differentiate their stamp collections. “They can become very specific,” said Mr Lund, right down to collecting certain colore stamps.

Stamp collecting encompasses more than postage stamps. Some collectors favor stamps issued for hunting, revenue stamps, or stamps known in the philatelic crowd as “Cinderellas.” Those stamps are produced like postage stamps, but are never used as mailing stamps. Other collectors favor Easter Seals, souvenir, and similar stamps.

It is not always the value, but the search that thrills stamp collectors, said these three hobbyists. Of course, finding that million-dollar stamp would be exciting, Ms Mangiafico joked.

The ideal stamp, Mr Lund said, is one that has the design perfectly centered on the stamp, has all perfect glue on the back, and has not been canceled. There are many different factors, he said, that make stamps valuable.

“Stamps have a lot of meaning to people,” said Ms Mangiafico. “People don’t usually throw them away when they come from family,” she said. What is unfortunate is that the collections passed down often end up sitting in boxes. “They should be brought out,” she declared, and that is one reason the Brookfield Philatelic Society is hoping the C.H. Booth Library exhibit will spark interest in joining their club. Whether serious or curious, no matter how old or young, the members welcome all.

“We’re all a bit of characters,” said Mr Hamilton. As an example of just how far some collectors will go for that special addition to a collection, he recalled the member who sent an envelope with an Elvis Presley stamp on it, purposely addressed to a nonexisitent address.

“It came back stamped ‘Return to Sender’ — also the name of a song made famous by that singer — and the irony of that cancellation plus the Elvis stamp has made it desirable. 

“Another,” recalled Mr Hamilton, “would send envelopes to famous people and ask them to autograph it and return the envelope. Then when the First Day of Issue stamp of that person would come out (traditionally the US Postal Service depicts only deceased people on stamps), he would send away the envelope with the signature. The returned envelope would now be an autographed First Day Cover envelope — signed by someone dead.”

Two things stamp collectors have in common, he said, are a need for neatness and order that is soothed by the organizing of stamp collections. “There is also the search for that special stamp,” he said.

“As a club, we’re all getting kind of old. I’m like the merit badge counselor for stamp collectors. We don’t see a lot of kids, and we know people probably have albums of stamps they’ve inherited,” Mr Hamilton said. The members are eager to help people develop an interest in stamp collecting.

The Brookfield Philatelic Society offers an evaluation service. For $25, a member will come to a home and help judge whether a collection has value or is worth hanging on to. They can refer people to reputable assessors to determine value, but Mr Lund said that they really promote caring for and passing on a family collection. There is no charge if someone wants to bring a collection to the club for evaluation.

At the monthly meetings, members can browse the circuit books from the United Stamp Societies. Stamps from all over the world are available for purchase. The meeting offers a chance to ask questions, learn, trade, and buy, Mr Lund said.

“One thing stamp collecting does is keep your mind sharp,” added Mr Hamilton. Collecting, organizing, seeking stamps, and determining the values are all ways that this hobby benefits the brain, he said. “There is a lot of paying attention to detail,” he said.

New stamp collectors are also advised on the best ways to remove stamps from envelopes, how to mount the stamps in albums, and the different kinds of albums available for collectors.

Even after collecting for a lifetime, Mr Hamilton does have certain stamps to which he is partial. After spending years tracking them down, he finally found two very rare stamps. They are Paris-Nouma Flight stamps from New Caldonia, issued in 1932, and he is proud to own them. Other New Caldonia stamps feature planes similar to these stamps, but the planes are smaller than those on his favored stamps. It is one of the many tiny details that make a stamp stand out, he said.

“People really should stop by to look at the stamps on display,” Ms Mangiafico urged.

The Brookfield Philatelic Society meets the second Wednesday of each month, at the Brookfield Senior Center, 100 Pocono Avenue, Brookfield. Doors open at 7 pm, and the meeting begins at 8 pm. For information on stamp collection evaluation, e-mail brookfieldphilatelicsociety@gmail.com.

“We’d like to infect as many people as we can with the stamp collecting bug,” Mr Hamilton said.