In 1953, I was in Form 3 at Camberwell High School, which
I found to be frightfully boring and uninspiring.
There was far too much attention given to organized "sport"
in all of its forms and guises, in which many of us were not at all interested.
In that year I hung out with a couple of mates at school,
who shared my interests in radio construction and stamp-collecting.
I used to buy the monthly Radio and Hobbies magazines which
we passed around during recesses.
I was well into philately, and bought innumerable first-day-of-issue
commemorative covers from the Auburn Post Office, all of which I still have!
Ibn 1953 to 1955 I bought several of the Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogues, which I still have
in my library!
I used to buy stamps "on approval" - this was a scheme where many stamp dealers would send
selections of stamps, from which we would choose and purchase those which we like, and send the money back with the unused
selections
In the 1950s, there were very few stamp shops in Melbourne - the one I remember the most was
Ackland's, which was in small premises on the first floor of the corner of Elizabeth and Collins Sts.
I have a very large collectiion of stamps from all over the world, including many Australian
issues from the colonies before Federation.
I lost interest in stamp collecting after about 1955.
