Another article about having fun collecting Scout stamps talked about the great expense of accessories, albums, etc. being almost prohibitive for a new collector.  This is true not only for the new collector but also for some of us old collectors also.

Collectors of Scout stamps should NOT buy pre-made pages, albums, etc. not because their price is higher but because stamp collecting is a personal thing.  Each individual can make his own pages on which to display the stamps he has collected.  Some collectors, especially new and young collectors, will say "I don't have the ability to make my own pages."  This is hogwash.  Stamp collecting is a hobby for most people and should be a way for him or her to relax and develop something very satisfying.

Who is to say what is good or what is bad?  The so-called experts?  NOT on your life.  What I want and do collect is my business and is done for my satisfaction and enjoyment.  Each collector has to decide this and stand behind it.  I show my collection from time to time and what people say about it is their business, but it has little effect on the personal satisfaction and enjoyment I derive from collecting Scouts on stamps.  We as collectors must collect what we want for our collections.

I have designed all of my album pages.  My first two page designs were silk screened, and the third design was made by photo offset printing which is simply a photograph of a page that I pasted up.  This can be done very inexpensively.  [Use of Quick-Print shops at most office supply stores today can greatly simplify this task for you even if you don't use a computer.]

I use a regular 3 ring notebook for an album.  This allows me the greatest freedom of doing what I want with my collection, and makes it easy to show.  [Notebooks that allow inserts on the cover and spine add an additional level of customization for your album.]

The two things that should not be skimped on, in MY opinion, is the quality of the stamps we collect; and the method of displaying the stamps we collect.  Good mounts can be obtained inexpensively.

In closing I have this to say to all my fellow collectors of Scout stamps: Collect the stamps that you want to collect and make your collection satisfy you, because in the final analysis we collect these stamps to satisfy ourselves.

SOSSI JOURNAL Volume 21, Number 4, April 1972.
Updates by Keith Larson