Here is a fun introduction to Topical Stamp Collecting that incorporates the various attributes of the American Topical Association.

 AN ATA INTERVIEW WITH DOROTHY

Unknown to most people, Dorothy has been a topical stamp collector for most of her life. We ran into Dorothy recently at the National Topical Stamp Show in Denver and managed to get this exclusive interview with her on her life, her friends, and her hobbies.

ATA: Hi, Dorothy. Could you tell us a little bit about how you came to collect topical stamps?

Dorothy: I’d be happy to. My Aunt Em used to get a lot of bills in the mail on the farm and I started tearing the stamps off the envelopes. One day, I found an envelope with three different stamps showing Presidents on them, but they were overprinted with the word KANSAS across the face in big, bold, black letters. I thought it would be fun to collect stamps that tied in some way into my adopted state – I was actually born in Grand Rapids, Minnesota but we moved when I was a small child. I started looking for any other stamps that might tie in. I remember having a stamp with the Louisiana Purchase and another with an American Indian, but I lost them all in a tornado that hit our home. It turned my life around, both figuratively and literally.

ATA: Yes, most of us heard about that. You were lucky to have both survived and returned home safely!

Dorothy: Oh, yes I was! And when I got home, I decided to start collecting again. One day, I went to the library and found that some nice person had left their copy of LINN’S STAMP NEWS in the reading section. That is when I found out about Topical Collecting. There was a great article on Rainbows on Stamps and I was hooked. But I couldn’t afford to buy any. Then my friend, Andy, who collected Famous Wives on Stamps, suggested that we put on a show and raise some money to buy stamps. Well, the show was successful and I got a three-year subscription to LINN’S and joined the ATA. They had a checklist on Rainbows on Stamps and I found that they had three books about Birds on Stamps. So, I decided to buy those books and the checklist and collect Bluebirds on stamps as well.

ATA: I didn’t realize that you were a member of the ATA!

Dorothy: That’s probably because I married and now have a different last name. Joining the ATA led to a real positive change in my life. When my daughter was about 16, I took her with me to a TOPEX show held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She collected entertainers on stamps. And I must say that I even kept one set when they had Clark Gable on a stamp that was se-tenant with one of Toto and me.

But, anyway, whom did I run into but the Tin Woodsman! He was there with his 18-year-old son, who wasn’t a stamp collector but started collecting dogs on stamps at that show. I think he did that to impress my daughter. A few years later, the two of them married and I am today a very proud grandmother of five.

Getting back to the Tin Woodsman – I just call him Woody today – he and I had lunch at the hotel and started to reminisce about our adventures in Oz. I asked him why he was at the show and he told me that he collected – you can probably guess – Hearts on stamps! Oh, he has quite a collection I understand. He is the head of the Oz Heart Association and volunteers cutting down trees for the Habitats for Munchkins Organization.

ATA: That is very interesting news. Do you know anything about your other friends from Oz?

Dorothy: Of course. I asked him about Scarecrow. He now goes by the name of Dr. S. Crow, by the way. He is the Mayor of Oz and has been for the last forty years. Would you believe that Woody got him interested in stamps? Well, he did. Dr. Crow is a member of several Study Units of the ATA including the Mathematical, Computer, Biology, Astronomy and Space Units. He exhibits many of his collections, under various assumed names at the National Topical Stamp Shows. He has helped in the writing of several ATA handbooks on these topics, along with several checklists. He even has put together a couple of slide shows for the ATA Lending Library, though, again under an assumed name. He is considering writing a handbook under his own name on Mars!

ATA: Wow! He is really into the hobby!

Dorothy: Yes, and I almost forgot to mention that he is one of the volunteers for the ATA translation services. He now speaks fourteen different languages!

ATA: That is truly amazing. Tell me, has anyone seen the Wizard since he went aloft?

Dorothy: Oh yes. The dear little man actually made it back to Omaha. He set up a travel agency there and retired about six years ago. He has collected balloons on stamps and covers all of his life. I sent him a set of the new New Zealand stamps on the Lord of the Rings, and he wrote back and said that he was going to start a collection on Wizards and Witches. Do you have a checklist on that topic?

ATA: No, I’m sorry. No one has put a list together for us yet. We do have a handbook of Fairytales and Folktales and Disney on stamps, and he might find quite a few in that book. Also, tell him that if he ever does get a good list put together, to mail it in to the ATA Office at P. O. Box 57, Arlington, TX 76004-0057, and we’ll make it available to other collectors who may inquire about the same topic.

Dorothy: I’ll do that. He’ll be excited to learn about the Fairy Tale book, I’m sure.

ATA: Is there any news about the Cowardly Lion...er, I mean the Lion.

Dorothy: I’m sorry to say that he is once again the Cowardly Lion. He married a very strong-headed lioness and his burst of courage pretty well dissipated after that. He does collect stamps, but in his own way. He collects cats on stamps and claims to have 400 in his collection. But Woody saw it and says that he keeps the stamps in a box and that there are only about 20 different cat stamps in the box and the rest are duplicates.

ATA: That’s a shame. Doesn’t he subscribe to any philatelic papers or belong to any clubs?

Dorothy: No. He doesn’t want to get his name on any lists. And he also says that it’s too expensive. Woody pointed out that he spends more money taking his wife and two cubs out to eat in one evening than he would have to pay for a full year’s subscription to a philatelic newspaper or pay for dues in the ATA , but old Lion just clamps up. Why, Woody told him that he could join the Cats on Stamps Study Unit for just $6 per year, but Lion wouldn’t do it. He is just a loner. Woody formed an ATA Chapter in Oz – that’s a topical stamp club – and Lion won’t even bother coming to the meetings as an eternal free guest. I just don’t understand him.

ATA: Thank you so much for your time, Dorothy. I’m sure that a lot of readers will be interested in what has happened to all of you since your adventure in Oz. Have you ever thought about returning?

Dorothy: I’ve thought about it, but we’ve settled down in the woods of Michigan. In the spring it reminds me a lot of OZ, with the trees and the flowers and all. Maybe some day I’ll go back, but, for right now, I’m content with my husband, my children, my grandkids and Toto IV.

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