As we look back to a very successful Great American Stamp Show (GASS) in 2021 and look ahead to GASS in 2022, it brings to mind one of the co-sponsors for these shows, the American Topical Association (ATA). The ATA represents and advocates for one of the more popular avenues for collectors, topical collecting. For those new to the hobby or those looking to expand their current hobby interests, topical collecting, or collecting stamps by ideas or themes, has quickly become one of the most inclusive and growing sectors of the philatelic hobby as collectors search worldwide issues to discover stamps within a particular topical area of interest.
ATA Handbooks 1 & 2 Combined with sample page showing listings
Established in 1949 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin by Jerry Husak, the ATA has grown to be the second largest stamp collecting organization in the United States behind only the APS. Two of the publications that the ATA are best known for are their checklists and their handbooks. Both sets of publications are the creation of ATA members and researchers who painstakingly compile worldwide lists of stamp issues organized and titled by a specific topic or theme. Topics or themes from A – Z can be found in the ATA checklists and handbooks.
ATA handbooks devoted to animals, insects and watercraft on stamps
The American Philatelic Research Library has well over 280 of these publications covering such diverse topics as Abraham Lincoln, Astronomy, Birds, Christmas, Music, Plants, Red Cross, Religion, Space, Theater and even Stamps on Stamps. The earliest ATA publications were often merely listings that included Scott catalog numbers and in some cases other recognized catalog numbers (i.e. Stanley Gibbons, Michel). The handbooks were arranged by subject or country for various topics with little or no illustrations.
As time went on and the publications were revised and updated or entirely new publications were produced, black and white and then color illustrations began to appear along with Scott catalog numbers. Some of the early publications were about 20 pages or so while today’s handbooks can be well over 300 pages as more and more countries began producing stamp issues that could be categorized by a specific theme or topic.
Pages for Ajamn from ATA Handbook titled “Wild Cats in Art”
The ATA handbooks comprise one of the more well-used sections of the APRL collection as an increasing number of collectors explore and expand their collecting interests through thematic and topical collecting. Even competitive exhibiting has come to include thematic exhibiting as a category and as a result both judges and exhibitors now consult these useful ATA publications regularly. If you are a topical collector or have ever thought of starting a thematic collection, contact the APRL today and explore these invaluable resources for topical collecting.