Guidelines for Social Philately

The following are the guidelines for competition entries in the class of Social Philately.

1. The exhibit must have an introductory page showing the intended scope and development of the exhibit.

2. The exhibit represents a study of the development of social systems and products derived from the operation of postal systems or the development of a social activity or enterprise.

3. The theme should be developed using both philatelic and non-philatelic, but related, material.

4. The non-philatelic material should comprise up to a maximum of 50% of the items on show. It should support and enhance the philatelic items in the development of the theme.

5. Rarity is not a judge of value but reflects the relative scarcity of items.

6. Items should be of as good a quality as is available.

7. The significance of the items shown should show the impact the items have upon the story/theme being shown.

Double width sheets are permitted and count as 2 sheets, provided they are horizontal. Double vertical height is not allowed as sheets of this size will not fit into the standard frames.

Want to know more?

• "Social Philately is the Social History told by way of mail and ephemera." Simple! At least that is how the Channel Islands Specialist Society start an article!

• The THATCHAM and DISTRICT PHILATELIC SOCIETY have an interesting page (page 4) on the subject in their April 2009 Edition.

According to James MacKay, "The British Philatelic Trust has published an attractive leaflet by Pat Grimwood-Taylor under the title ‘What is SOCIAL PHILATELY?’ which defines this new concept in collecting as aiming ‘to present a historical story or to illustrate the relevance or impact of the postal system within society’." If anyone has a copy of this, or a link to an electronic copy of this I would very much appreciate being able to link to it for the benefit of our members. Please contact the Hon. Secretary if you have any information about it.