The future of philately with philatelic associations

This is partial translation of my blog written in Finnish (link). Teksti suomeksi on em. linkin takana.

What will be the state of postage stamp collecting hobby in 5 years? How about philately? What will it be in 10 to 15 years? What is happening to stamp collecting prices? Maybe you want to collect and not think about things like that? It can be understood, but could be worth considering

0. BACKGROUND - The past is no guarantee of the future

I have been at philately events and meetings since 2019. Face-to-face and remotely. In social media. Browsed philatelic journals in the library. Chatted with dozens of hobby experts. Some idea has been formed of what this activity of philatelists is at the floor level.

Collecting, like stamp collecting, is a voluntary hobby that depends on your own taste preferences. Collectors of the same thing have decided to organize themselves into clubs and societies. Since until now the hobby has essentially been carried out through associations, they have some importance and I myself interact with them all the time.

From my point of view, the good aspects of philatelic associations are the following:

- can buy and sell material and also exchange

- can receive and share information and useful tips

- sociability: meet kindred spirits and even make friends

My motivation for meetings and events going on is strongly the auction and the purchase of material. The challenge is that very few people collect the latest new (euro era) material or are interested in sharing their experiences. Regrettably, you also often come across an attitude problem, towards almost everything new and modern. Grief work for something left in the past is perhaps understandable, but it is not a reason for me to be involved. The material of the auctions is 90 - 100% from the last millennium. I myself only have the main species collections (Finland, Åland) and maybe I'll learn more when the new production ends completely. That is going to happen after some years. Then the price level has also come down appropriately.

The motivation to comment on the state of philately and philately associations (even if it is not asked) is related to a question that is repeated in the editorial of almost every member magazine. That when the population gets older, how do we get new members, how do we get young people and women involved in the hobby? And later to the voluntary and responsible tasks of the associations.

In short: it seems to me that not at all to associations. Associations' perception of their importance is not realistic. Although there are of course some new collectors through social media, they are not attracted by the associations. Philatelic associations are creations of baby boomer culture, i.e. tradition, and the ranks of these people are inevitably thinning out, for natural reasons. They hope for young enthusiasts, but they don't want or know how to modernize the content to make it interesting for young people. Renewal may take place after them, sometime in the 2030s - depending on what is left of philatelic associations - and the hobby. In those associations, where slightly younger people are still active, continuing the hobby of their school days.

The change in the world is permanent and there is no point in longing for the old. This also applies to stamp collecting and philately. However, this longing for the old happens - maybe sometimes you can understand it, but the stubborn resistance to change, clinging to the old, is not. That is, if/when you don't understand that it doesn't help anything (although you can probably get some peer support from someone who thinks the same way). It is perhaps cliché to say that change can be seen as an opportunity. Here, the age structure of collectors can have an effect.

It is in itself easy to claim what has been done wrong or not done in philately. The biggest thing, however, is that when the world has changed, the hobby has not and thus it has drifted to the margins. The mistake is that they don't want to accept and thus react on this, and the impasse is slowly deepening. You can see the decline when you just observe the average age of the participants of the events. Likewise, obituaries of deceased hobbyists in member magazines. I guess hope for the best is maintained until the last one turns off the lights.

My second motivation for commenting is that the hobby under the control of the associations supports my own collecting maybe to some extent, but too little. It even goes against my own goals. The tradition of association activities seems to be stuck in the values ​​and worldview of the last millennium, which I do not share.

Of course, it's easy to say that it would be best if, instead of criticism, the critic took responsibility for changing things in the direction they want. Well, no essential change is possible, because the “holy” tradition of philately must be preserved. The "proposer first" claim can be just a disclaimer not to change anything.

Almost the entire leisure culture and hobbies have changed. The golden age of stamp collecting and philately was a "post-war unified culture before the Internet", as writer Jari Tervo stated about that time. A few decades from somewhere in the 60s to the 90s. It has been replaced by the culture of Western market liberalism, where commercialism, digitalization, individualism and immediate satisfaction of needs are present. The past millennium's way of doing things, which required concentration and long-term effort and focused on paper formats, may not survive the competition. The need for paper letters and postcards will decrease until it disappears, because of digital applications.

Collecting is perhaps more popular than ever, but in the current ideal of individuality, one may no longer be so interested in anything other than one's own doing, not in what one's friends collect. Collectors of sports cards, Moomin mugs and vinyl records have their own Facebook groups and events, but no organized associations, because they do not see added value. The sociality promoted by philatelic associations seems to be a way of satisfying the mutual needs of enthusiasts from the older generation, judging by the fact that young people no longer come there.

Despite this, from the comments of many philatelists, it could be interpreted that the popularity of stamp collecting as a hobby will remain from now on forever. As long as we hustle enough? Are we building exhibitions, attracting people to the hobby at various events? This is also repeated in the magazines of the industry: you should just keep trying, it'll be fine, right? When only people are made aware of the excellence of the hobby?

Haven't the philatelic associations tried all the traditional arts for quite a long time, with poor results. Some young and middle-aged people may have an interest in stamp collecting, but they can get the information they need about it via the internet and social media. But the usual explanation that young enthusiasts have disappeared into the world of social media and mobile phones is too simple.

An example of persistent dream is the stamp fair or Stamp Forum held in conjunction with the annual Helsinki Book Fair. I have been there since 2019, also as a representative of the exhibitor. There are a couple of associations, a philatelic exhibition and some stamp dealers involved. 4 long days require a lot of volunteer resources and high participation fees. Although philately certainly gains visibility, you would think that experience has already taught you that the "dream": many new members, will not be realized by that event? Now I have already read comments, gravel voices that the said Stamp Forum would be at the end of its road.

Association managers should think about the added value of regular attendance at association meetings or exhibitions can it be for the wheels? Especially for younger enthusiasts. Such that you could carve out time for it alongside other life challenges, such as work, family or studies. Or other leisure activities. Not to mention the trouble and costs of traveling to the meeting place - I've heard many enthusiasts state that the meetings are too difficult to reach.

About that added value: if the philatelic association's modus operandi is regular meetings in some clubhouse as well as events, exhibitions, then it has been seen that they do not reach younger people. It is a frequently heard story that the newcomer came to the meeting once or twice, but not after that. Even young and middle-aged people are not interested in just sitting quietly listening to speeches and presentations by seniors. Paper membership magazines and guides do not reach them either, especially when they aim to communicate the hobby of philately to those who are already convinced of it, who have more time. Paper publications could be seen as a way to hide information related to the hobby, because they are not available online.

More on that added value. Philately has developed a tradition. We consider it a matter of honor that the tradition continues. If you look at philatelic communication, i.e. magazines, guides, presentations etc. published for association members, the cornerstone of the tradition seems to be philatelic exhibitions, to which competition has been added. These, in turn, involve sophisticated investigative pursuits and the creation and maintenance of rules. This joint activity requires administration, which is handled by the associations' officials and the Philatelist Union as a joint gatekeeper. This, in turn, requires bureaucratic organization and decision-making, association meetings and union meetings. This, in turn, requires white-collar workers who have the desire and ability to work in this kind of civil servant position. I don't think that such bureaucracy and a hierarchical, authoritarian system are of interest to today's collectors anymore - they simply don't see the added value for it.

The principle of collecting is that everyone chooses what to collect, how to collect and how to think about their collecting. Collecting is therefore a very liberal, individual thing, let alone that collectors of the same field can share their experiences and joy in the hobby when working together. The same thing also applies to stamp collecting. But, for example, collectors of Moomin mugs, vinyl records and sports cards do not have associations. They can connect with others through digital channels and communities. All this - in addition to the change in the world - is one of the reasons why young and middle-aged people have also been left out of association activities.

The tradition will not continue by itself, without energetic new hobbyists. A handful of seniors can put up a philately exhibition, and claim in an interview with a local newspaper that philately is doing well. They can compete with each other for top brands in auctions, even with tough offers. Philately doesn't have to die, but its social importance, the number of enthusiasts may dwindle to as small as Morse code or carrier pigeon enthusiasts. The meaning has disappeared with digital communication. Finnish postal office Posti has also given up cooperation, due to its other business, packages and logistics. You can hear "everything was better before" lamentation and whining about this change until you get tired. Especially when it doesn't help anything.

Young people also do voluntary work, but for something other than the starting points of foreign ones, such as philately. In short, it is clear to me that philatelic association activity is dying out, to a large extent. For the reasons listed above, young and middle-aged people have disappeared decades ago, even if some of them are still involved in some association and a few dozen new ones are recruited. However, only some of these remain permanent members of the associations. A large part of the members are over 70 years old, and the average age increases by one year every year. Reach 80 years of age by the end of the decade. Lately, you have been able to read the obituaries of influential philatelists (Turku, SFS, Korso, Ilomantsi,...), and the articles are endless. In the 2030s, the clubs in the biggest cities may still be alive, but the smaller associations in rural areas have practically died out, even if they are still in the association register and maybe a handful of people in their twenties gather.

So the ranks of philatelists are getting thinner. If we refer to the large number of philatelic associations - a few of them will die out every year. As for the "established" number of members, I have found that, at least in Finland, more than half of the members of philatelic associations are so-called for the sake of support, i.e. they participate only by paying their membership fee. Some of those in the membership register may also be deceased - this became apparent when the birthday greeting tradition had to be stopped. How much interest or even the resources are there in the associations to investigate how this passive part could be offered? Associations seem to be content to run themselves - to come up with tasks that they define as necessary and to implement them themselves.

For the union of associations, the Finnish Philatelist Union, I predict nothing but a downward trend and more and more new, even bigger challenges to maintain the faith of the remaining members that the activity is worth investing in. Not to mention the belief that everything will continue the same way into the future. Prestige, social significance disappears once and for all with a postage stamp letter. The association claims to be for all stamp collectors, but that may just be a feeling about it. Elite enthusiasts share this belief, but they are a small minority. In recent years, the association has tried to introduce heroic measures even to increase the number of members, e.g. investing in digitization and videos. Apparently, the decline in the number of members has been slowed down, and this is allegedly due to better marketing of the services. Personally, I would say that it is purely due to the Union's membership fee being halved for two years for new members. The number of members will continue to decrease when this discount ends. In my opinion, for the majority of stamp collectors, the Union is, if not unnecessary, then unimportant.

The American Philatelic Society in the United States has run a similar campaign to increase the number of members, and even there it has only been able to slow down the downward trend. The hobby of philately is declining in all Western countries, although perhaps more slowly than in Finland, because digitalization is not as advanced as here.

Getting involved in digital communication is not a salvation, because the elderly enthusiasts of the associations are probably not interested in the possibilities of using it. Philatelists do not seem to understand the basic principle of social media such as Facebook, that is, that it is not just a bulletin board where communication is in one direction: from the upper management down to the enthusiasts. Because of the inherent sordin, the principle of correctness, communication can never be made two-way, so that enthusiasts themselves actively share and comment on posts and add their own content. So what would be necessary for social media content to be attractive. In addition, other digital and social media, especially commercial messengers, have the kind of resources and know-how to attract followers that a hobbyist association based on membership fees can never have, no matter what kind of "social media expert" is recruited.

There are also experienced enthusiasts who, between the two of them, do not dispute my thoughts. They admit that, at least in this traditional philatelic club-like association, young people and women are no longer interested in participating. According to my own observations, not even middle-aged, i.e. under fifty.

Advertisers know that when a person gets older, it's not worth offering them something new, because they're stuck in their own ways. A certain part is interested in reforms such as digitalization. It seems to be ideal here, however, that these reforms should guide new enthusiasts to their own comfort zone, to traditional association activities. I don't think we want to take the risk that the reforms would be in competition with the philatelic tradition. And you can't even criticize such a comfort zone, because doing something should be something that feels good. On the other hand, you can't blame those younger collectors who don't get excited about associations or their traditions, even if they are marketed to them. But here is the impasse, slowly deepening, which is now being proven.

As a collector, I am interested in the current state and future of stamp collecting and why not philately. In part, it reflects a wider social and cultural change, after the time of the above-mentioned uniform culture. Which is also interesting, like for example the future of paper books. This change is interesting, although it seems to bother others.

When it comes to the values ​​of collectibles, the price of the vast majority of material drops all the time. The value of miscellaneous remains of the deceased is typically 5-10 €, discovery boxes and sale lots are sold for less than a hundred. Which is why I believe that even the most expensive items will become cheaper to a reasonable level, if you wait. The price increase of certain rarities in recent years may be due to the corona isolation of the "risk group" philatelists, as well as a reaction to the collapse in the value of ordinary items.

When it comes to the equality and liberal basic principle of collecting, philately may be the only type of collecting where there seems to be a need to put collectors in order. As if the hobbyist enjoys the hobby best when he recognizes his place in the hierarchy, acts accordingly and even sets a goal to strive higher? There are different castes or "classes" in the competitions, the top ones have their own and the low ones have their own. Gold and silver medals and trophies as incentives. The successful ones are presented in the magazine of the philately industry, like sports heroes. This is probably great for them, but is it possible for the practice to create inequality among enthusiasts? 

If I have a goal, it is to complete the collection, so why would I need the subjective and speculative judgment of a competition judge to make it happen? Those views are neither laws of nature nor facts, and it is not worth trying to make them such.

Furthermore, sophisticated research, exhibitions and competitions are claimed to "develop" or "advance" the hobby. I think it has a selfish ulterior motive: if/when the evaluation is based on matters of taste and opinions, it is possible for those who evaluate other people's collecting to guide the hobby so that the popularity of their own collecting is preserved. This is also important in the economic resale value of objects and collections: is the collecting recommended, which increases the appreciation and monetary value of one's own collecting?

As for the philatelic exhibitions, they rumble with their emptiness. Very few non-philatelists are spontaneously interested in them, i.e. without a separate introduction. It can't go on like this forever. Somewhere, with a lot of effort, perhaps a few dozen new recruits have been obtained, but the departure from the elderly is greater.

The elderly also have a tendency to reminisce about the past, the lived life. History and the past are well covered in philatelic publications, mainly due to old collectibles. But also the past of organizations seems to be essential to report. Why would, for example, the employees of Mikkeli stamp collectors 50 years ago be important to my collection? I think those histories are mostly read by the authors themselves. It is perhaps about longing for the life left behind. More than about something meritorious, somehow essential for storing information. Historians are all like copies of each other. But the associations seem to have the readiness and resources for this.

This is also related to emphasizing the cultural-historical significance of philately: as one collecting expert stated, old people are often interested in old things.

Of course, according to former general Adolf Ernrooth: "If you don't know your history, you can't build your future". Does this apply to stamp collecting and philately? I don't think so, because the world doesn't work the same as it did in the last millennium, in the time of paper letters, in presidents Kekkonen and Koivisto's Finland. According to the definition of declinism: "the more we look to the past, the more we neglect the present". As they say in the investment world, "the past is no guarantee of the future".

Elderly philatelists' worry about the future may actually be part of an identity crisis: worry about losing their own meaning, their own life's work. The opposition to this is said to promote or nurture the tradition. Death is a part of life, as dull as it is.

Why do I write critically? Why do I care if I have to criticize? I don't really have the fire to pull a stone truck, to change the activities of the associations to something else. Although something like that has been suggested. But still, I collect stamps, and I feel that the objectives of the associations do not serve my own collecting except in certain aspects. In other respects, the rules and ideals of the associations are even harmful. Associations have many mechanisms that prevent their renewal, in which case the activity can be more harmful to the hobby than beneficial. But I don't think it's even worth trying to reform, because tradition. I enjoy giving associations in my own way and will continue to collect otherwise.

I have noticed that criticism is not liked. It might be taken as a personal insult. For me, collecting is a hobby, not a religion, whose certain sacred ideals or traditions must not be viewed critically. However, it has been said that you could focus on positive things. Well, there is plenty of text about them elsewhere. Besides, we don't live in North Korea. If, on the other hand, we try to plead that we shouldn't scare beginners, how well is it successful in attracting them now? Just smiling doesn't seem to attract them either. I claim that it is about not criticizing one's own sacred concepts. Besides, enthusiasts have enough media literacy that they trust their own experience in what added value there is in the activities of philatelic associations - if anything.

In a philatelic magazine in spring 2024, a few school-age members of the clubs are presented. Of course, someone can get them involved, especially when developing a program suitable for them. In the fall of 2024, the Youth Philatelists remote club started, which meets digitally with a Teams connection. The goal is to be digitally online, where young people are. That remote club still does not look anything trendy when the participants are on the fingers of one hand (A youth club without youth?). Then you will know if the number of young participants increases, although I do not believe in any revolutionary effect. Even for the club to establish itself in its place. Judging from the moderator and guest presenters, the ulterior motive seems to be an effort to recruit young exhibition philatelists. You could have guessed it - after all, such a routine has not been established for the sheer joy of collecting stamps. But in the struggle for survival of exhibition philately and associations. As I stated earlier, it is obvious that the younger generation's collecting hobby (sports cards, Moomin mugs, vinyl records) does not see any added value in registered association-style activities and there is probably nothing that can be done about it. My opinion, based on the philatelic member magazines, is that the cornerstone of philatelic associations is exhibition and competition philately.

I heard from a philately insider that there have been these digital communication experiments before, with poor results. What I think is essential, is how many of the new young philately club members will be involved after 3-5 years? As you get older and approach adulthood, your interests change. When study, work and family plans become relevant and perhaps a change of location after work, stamps can remain in the cupboard for tens of years. It's worth noting. that there are also middle-aged people between 30 and 50 years old who are interested in stamps, but they don't go to clubs either. Probably for the reasons I listed above. In my opinion, focusing on school-aged children is as effective as carrying water to a well: you don't notice that when letters and cards are no longer sent, stamps are no longer seen. Soaking stamps from the covers has once been the spark for most young people to start collecting them.

Liberal collecting needs no rules. Or everyone can create them for themselves. Ideologically, I am mostly a classic liberal and individualist who wants to respect the freedoms of the individual, against the institution. The associations protect the so-called quality = advantage of a certain narrowing elite. It can also be important that someone raises criticism, with justification.

In this blog, I bring my own view of philately, initially in three parts: 1. History, 2. Current situation and 3. Future (with a question mark). It's a long story in which I won't write about what excites me about postage too and inspires - you can find articles about them elsewhere. You shouldn't even start reading the following if you don't want to hear any criticism - related to philatelic association activities.