Approximately one-third of the population enjoys collecting objects, which provides intellectual stimulation, the thrill of the chase, and the opportunity to leave a legacy. However, the same pursuit can also engender pain, such as paying too much for an object, unknowingly buying a fake, or dealing with the frustrations of collection dispersal. Until recently, there was no objective way to enhance the positive (pleasure) aspects of collecting and minimize the negative (pain) aspects.
Now, for the first time, scientific research in neuro- and behavioral economics gives us a way to turn this around. Using examples from these disciplines, Shirley M. Mueller, M.D., relates her own experiences as a serious collector and neuroscientist to examine different behavioral traits that form the basis of collecting.
About the Presenter: Board-certified in neurology and psychiatry, Shirley M. Mueller, M.D., is internationally recognized as a lecturer and author in neuropsychology and as a collector and scholar of Chinese export porcelain. She is an adjunct professor in the Department of Neurology at Indiana University.
APS Executive Director Scott English will host and moderate a panel discussion with APS President Cheryl Ganz, APRL President Melanie Rogers, Librarian and Director of Information Services Scott Tiffney, and Editor-in-Chief Susanna Mills. Together they will discuss the challenges and successes of 2023 and look ahead to the opportunities awaiting the APS and APRL in 2024. Topics will include the library, education, and editorial projects in the new year. Your questions and comments are welcome during this discussion.
In the February issue of The American Philatelist, Ron Breznay, President of the Wyoming Valley Stamp Club, shares the origins of the Headsville, West Virginia Post Office, from its construction in Sheetz Mill, Virginia, to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History to its current home at the American Philatelic Center in Bellefonte, Pennsylvania. As a companion to the article, Ron will join Stamp Chat to share the history, share photos and images unseen in the article, and take your questions on this fascinating piece of American history and the APS community.
COVID and international military conflicts have highlighted mental health impacts under adverse conditions. Around the world, people have experienced significant isolation, grief, and impaired communication. We gain unique and interesting insights into those challenges, adversities, and responses to positive interventions through postal history. Through the lens of Japanese World War I prisoner of war postal history, presenter Harold Krische examines how prisoners of war responded to the mental health and isolation challenges, how effectively they coped, and the circumstances that allowed those opportunities to prevail. This program touches on the postal history and methods for research with the postal history and ephemera associated with the camps.
Throughout the 19th century, the post office reshaped how we communicated with each other, helping to shrink the world one letter at a time. The post also shaped changes in technology and trade around the world. Join Murray Abramson, Trustee of the American Philatelic Research Library, as he takes us through the postal factors that changed technology and trade before World War II.