Residents from Brantford and beyond attended the annual Brantford Stamp Show at the Branlyn Community Centre on Saturday, January 10, 2026.
Hosted by the Brantford Stamp Club, this year’s event featured 12 sellers from across Southern Ontario, a selection of door prizes, a silent auction and thousands of valuable stamps and other related items to the philately hobby
“They come from as far as Windsor in the West to Gananoque in the east, and they’re all very knowledgeable,” said Brian Collins, President of the Brantford Stamp Club.
Throughout the six-hour event, both stamp collectors and postcard enthusiasts flipped through a variety of binders and file cases to find stamps, envelopes, or postcards to add to their collection.
There are several specialty stamps available to collect, including thematic items ranging from animals, insects, the Olympics, trains and hundreds of others. Some collectors may specialize in airmail stamps, commemorative stamps, postal stationery, or even postcards.
Bill Longley, a long-time collector and dealer from Waterdown who specializes in postal history, said there are many reasons why people are drawn to collecting stamps.
“Everybody comes to philately from a different perspective because everyone’s life experience is different. For some people, they collect the town or the county that they grew up in and it’s a way to reminisce. Maybe they came from England or The Netherlands and so they collect stamps from that country as a nod to their culture. Others collect thematic stamps; things like dogs or astronauts, trains, architecture, famous people or even politics,” he said. “The common theme here, and what people get out of the hobby, is studying something in detail and accessing books for research and knowledge. It’s really a voyage of discovery where you just get to learn more and more as you go on. In fact, stamp collectors often make great Jeopardy contestants because they know a wide range of information. It’s nice because you can become a real expert in your own little field.”
Longley went on to say that while stamp collecting can be a solitary hobby, it’s also incredibly social.
“The other thing, especially with the younger generations, is it’s an escape from the pressures of social media. It’s an escape where they can just be in their own little world, where they get to remove themselves and enjoy something for themselves,” he said. “But it’s also a great way to develop a network of friends because in the stamp world, it’s a lot of people from different walks of life coming together with a shared interest and showing each other what they found, and appreciating what they collect. That’s where local clubs and their shows come in handy because you get to enjoy the camaraderie of other collectors, exhibits and competitions.”
Collins also said one of the big things that attracts people to the hobby is that they get to decide how involved they are.
“It’s totally up to you. Especially if you’re still working, not everybody has the same time available to pursue it so you can do what works for you,” he said. “The other thing is that it’s accessible; it can be as expensive as you want or as cheap as you want, and you don’t need any fancy equipment to do it either.”
For deltiologists like Toronto Postcard Club member, Win Boyd, finding postcards that capture different places in time is what draws him in.
“I used to live in Toronto, and now I’m from Waterloo, but I was born in Owen Sound and so I collect a lot of stuff from there; the Banff area too because I used to spend my summers out there exploring the back country,” he said. “For me, it’s all about just collecting pictures of history from places I’ve been. It’s fun to research them because you can really go down a rabbit hole if you let yourself.”
Boyd said while some deltiologists like to collect Real Photographic Postcards (RPPCs), some look for ones that are hand painted, embossed or feature exaggerations and appliqués that catch their eye.
“Postcards were a significant way to communicate, especially in the early 1920’s when mail was delivered twice a day in Toronto; I’ve seen one that said, ‘I’ll meet you at the usual place tonight,'” he said. “There was one year in the early 1900s that there were three postcards mailed for every man, woman and child alive in Canada, so there are just millions out there to collect and you can really make it your own.”
Collins said that if anyone missed the show and is looking to get started in the hobby, they’re still more than welcome to reach out to the Brantford Stamp Club.
The club has been meeting and running since 1938 and currently boasts about 40 members that meet twice a month from September to June. The Club encourages the hobby of philately, assists in helping members increase their collections, and promotes common interests. Members can expect presentations, exhibits, guest speakers from local historians and an overall space that provides a respectful and relaxed atmosphere.
“If there are people out there that collect or have some interest in it, come on out and see us,” said Collins. “You don’t even have to join the day you come out, you can come to a couple meetings to see if it’s something you’re interested in and decide from there.”
Kimberly De Jong’s reporting is funded by the Canadian government through its Local Journalism Initiative.The funding allows her to report rural and agricultural stories from Blandford-Blenheim and Brant County. Reach her at kimberly.dejong@brantbeacon.ca.
