There is one word to describe this World Philatelic Exhibition – SPACIOUS. There was room to walk, room to talk, and plenty of space to see the displays at each dealers booth. Inside some booths there were easy chairs where the dealer’s could sit and talk and eat and drink with dignitaries and their customers. The exhibits were spread out for easy viewing. Society tables were easily accessed as were the numerous areas to promote the hobby, challenges for children, and viewing the rarities of the world.

The new convention center is cavernous. It is two city blocks east and west, and two blocks north and south with the north and south direction being about twice the length of the east-west width. A major street runs through the convention center at ground level. But the stamp show was underground and it used all four blocks with no interruption. It has 703,000 square feet of exhibit space and 150,000 square feet in 66 meeting rooms. The exhibit space is the equivalent of over 16 football fields.

Many more people came than were expected. By the end of the fifth of the eight days the show had run out of badges. The managers of the show had ordered twice as many badges as they thought they would need, but they ran out in less than five days. It was thought that anywhere from sixteen to twenty thousand people had come by the end of the fourth day. One can only estimate how many will have attended throughout the show.

Many people say that the stamp collecting is not attracting the younger generation. There were many opportunities for youngsters to have fun at the show. There was a vast area set aside with computers and games to challenge them. The American Philatelic Society runs a Stamps Camp and they had a whole room with stamp related toys replicating the activities of the campers. They also had a judging contest, complete with two judges, to pick the best stamp that the children designed. It was encouraging to see many enthusiastic young people there. Groups of school children were brought there by teachers; presumably their visit was tied in with what they were studying in school.

There were many stamps issued at the show but one of the more interesting First Day ceremonies was for a new “Duck” stamp and the “Jr. Duck” stamp. The proceeds from the sale of duck stamps are used for the preservation of wetland refuges. The ceremony was attended by about 200 people.

Seventy-two years ago wildlife hunters noticed that the number of ducks, geese, and other waterfowl was decreasing. They realized that something had to be done to help these birds to thrive. The answer was to preserve the wetlands so that the birds would have a place to safely breed and live. Hunting is rarely permitted on these refuges. The hunters realized that someone would have to pay for the management of the wetlands and they asked Congress to tax them. Now every hunter in addition to buying a hunting license must also purchase a Federal Hunting Permit stamp and affix it to the license.

The duck stamps are highly pictorial and show ducks, geese, and swans. One shows a Labrador Retriever with ducks flying in the background. Another shows a decoy with Canvasbacks flying overhead. Each year a contest is held and the duck prints are also collectibles. The winning artist for both the $15 duck stamp and the $5 Jr. duck stamp were also at the ceremony.

In 1934 the U. S. Department of Agriculture issued the first duck stamp (it cost $1.00). In 1939 the U. S. Department of the Interior(DoI) assumed the responsibility for their production. The Fish and Wildlife Division of the DoI now conducts the duck stamp contest and issues the stamp each year The stamps are available with water activated gum on the back or as well as self-adhesives. Originally the stamps had “Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp” inscribed on them, but that changed in 1977 and they are now inscribed, “Migratory Bird Hunting and Conservation Stamp.”

The states have noticed the conservation opportunity and issued their own hunting stamps for residents and non-residents. Hunting stamps have become immensely popular with collectors. The stamps are in the revenue stamp category and are issued once a year. Are they really stamps?

They are not postage stamps but many non-postage items that look like stamps seem to qualify as philatelic collectibles. It is often hard to determine when a label, seal, cinderella or poster stamp that has not been issued by the Postal Administration should move to a category of philatelic interest and be listed in a stamp catalogue along with stamps that have been used to deliver the mail.

The stamps went on sale at the show at midday on Thursday. Ten minutes before noon, there was a double and sometime triple line of over 300 people waiting patiently for the selling to begin. There were signs in the hallways of the convention center telling everyone when and where they could buy the stamps. Duck stamps are popular.

Washington is a great city for sightseeing. There are museums, botanical gardens, a zoo with pandas, concerts, art exhibits, and many, many historical places. There were people at the show to help you arrange your spare time in DC if you happened to want to take a break from stamps. Since there were many people from all over the world I’m sure that quite a few took advantage of the city’s highlights.
I attended a dinner one evening and was fortunate to sit at a table with Dr. Michael D. Dixon, the President of the exhibition, and his wife. It was fortuitous for me. I was already seated at a table when Dr. and Mrs. Dixon came over and sat down in a couple of seats that were open. Perhaps they chose those seats because there were other celebrities at the table.

The conversation was lively but the memorable words were about this show and talking about it in the past tense because they were already focusing on how they were going to make the International show in New York, to be held in 2016, better and bigger than this one. Ten years from now seems far into the future but they all seemed amazed at how fast the ten years of planning for this show seemed to fly by and they didn’t want to be caught in a last minute rush again.

The show lasted 8 days. One person complained that the show should have been longer. There were too many events occurring simultaneously. This fellow had to choose which event to attend because of the overlap. He said the show should have lasted 11 days. Then he could have attended everything he wanted.