Stamp Collector

70 MAY 2020 www.allaboutstamps.co.uk THE STAMP FACTORY CONNECTION British collectors who owned a beginner’s album in the late 1930s to early 1960s often found a bonus starter pack of stamps and hinges included with their new album when it first came into their possession. Irrespective of the album’s title, the accessories bundle, as well as one or two of the albums, probably came from a Welsh company officially known as The Philatelic Factory, though called by its employees, and many in the trade, The Stamp Factory. Operating in 1920 from a small office in Colwyn Bay, Wales, Thomas Cliffe built a thriving import-export enterprise that bought and sold bulk lots of used postage stamps from around the world. A nimble fingered workforce of young women sorted the incoming bundles of stamps into country packets which were then farmed out to one-man stamp dealers across Britain, and eventually most of the world. By the late-1930s his premises overflowed, with fifty female members of staff and millions of stamps crammed in, all demanding more space. Cliffe took the plunge and moved to larger, purpose-built premises in Rhyl from where The Stamp Factory supplied bulk packets, hinges, albums and other accessories to its international clientele. Among his many customers were chain stores such as Woolworths, W.H.Smith; and children’s comic publishers D.C. Thompson of London and Dundee, all attracting juveniles with packets of used stamps. The tobacco industry enlisted The Stamp Factory’s assistance, with small packets of stamps added to cigarette cartons to encourage the stamp collecting habit among youngsters drawn to smoking. One of the best-known offerings from The Stamp Factory for many years was their flimsy 6d XLCR Stamp Finder, used by hordes of youngsters (and more adults than care to admit it) to identify some of the obscure foreign stamps found stuffed into the giveaway packets. of stamp collecting; and the album’s internal graphic art is striking. 6 According to information gleaned from a Stampboards forum, the first Stanley Gibbons Commando Illustrated Stamp Album went on sale in early 1940; printed on wartime newsprint paper and retailing at just 8d. One year earlier an SG Strand album, with quality binding and maps, sold for 13s.; so it’s hardly surprising that few of the first flimsy Commando albums now survive. I wish I’d seen the stamps young collectors gathered into their Commandos in those dark days. Think of the scarce postal markings .. and the rare colour variations caused by wartime printing ink shortages. Later examples regularly seen on eBay and elsewhere are dated by their sellers to the late-1940s – 1950s, judged by the commando uniforms worn by the soldiers pictured on the front covers. 7 The Atlas Stamp Album was published by Grossman Stamp Company Inc. New York. A 1966 edition was described as having a capacity for several thousand stamps, with hundreds of full-size illustrations. Most of the countries of the world are represented, with interesting facts and statistics of the major stamp issuers. Recent chats by members of the www. stampcommunity.org website informed me that Grossman also published The Victory, Paramount, Regent and Hygrade Stamp Albums, as well as a range of philatelic accessories, from the 1960s to perhaps the 1980s. 8 Long-time eBay seller stuffdoctor13 of Stockton, California USA recently sold this 1960s vintage Explorer Stamp Album for US $15 plus shipping. The album was copyright 1964 by H.E.Harris & Co, New York. 9 The Fully Illustrated Universal Stamp Album was published as a soft-cover by the Grossman Stamp Co. New York. Seller barbie60426 of Fremont, California, United States, described it as a 1961 printing and offered it at US $4 plus shipping. 10 The 6d XLCR Stamp Finder. 9 8 STAMP ALBUMS