The Budding Philatelist
Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882-1945) was the only child of a middle-aged father and his much younger second wife. It had been extremely difficult for Sara Delano Roosevelt, and the doctors advised the couple that more children would not be forthcoming. Sara plowed all her maternal energies into raising her son. Despite the Roosevelt (and Delano) wealth and prominence, the new mother insisted on performing most of the child-rearing tasks rather than delegate to the nurses and nannies popular with their upper crust social set.
As an only child, the young boy was raised in an “adult” environment with very few available children of his own age to play with regularly. His education was via tutors. His vacations were accompanying his parents abroad. He learned early on to amuse himself – by himself.
By the time he was seven or eight, he had developed an interest it stamp collecting – a popular hobby then and even now. Philatelist is the “official” or “fancy” term they use for the pastime. FDR acquired the proper albums and magnifying glass, scissors and paste supplies, and whatever “instructional” materials were available. Visits to the local post office were frequent.
It is said, (generally by himself) that he learned geography primarily from his stamp collection. By the time he was a lad, circa 1890, sending and receiving mail all over the world required a stamp. Each time FDR discovered a new stamp from a new part of the world, he eagerly checked the encyclopedia and atlas to learn as much as he could about the particular nation.
At his death, he had a collection of about 1 million stamps, but according to stamp collecting experts, FDR’s collection was not particularly exotic or rare. He seldom sought hard-to-find or mint-imperfect additions for his hobby. He was content to occupy himself with generally available products, and found his pleasure in being a happy hobbyist. He loved learning about where they came from and the people/events they commemorated – rather than the details of the stamp process itself.
The Polio Hobby
Roosevelt was nearly 40 when he contracted infantile paralysis, better known as polio. Despite the best available care and treatment, the disease took a huge toll on his health. He would never walk again without heavy braces and similar aids. His self-designed wheelchair was always nearby.
Once the acute throes of pain and infirmity had abated, the former Assistant Secretary of the Navy and losing Vice Presidential candidate of 1920 needed to find other outlets for his energies. His health came first, of course. He spent the better part of the 1920s on long therapeutic trips to warm climates with warm waters. Swimming was considered the most successful treatment for polio victims. It would be a part of his regular routine for the rest of his life. As a side benefit (since he never regained the use of his legs) the upper part of his body was considerably strengthened.
Collecting stamps is a pastime that one can do sitting at a desk. And even when FDR was “living” on a boat, or in a cottage in Warm Springs, GA, stamp albums and related “equipment” was packed along with his clothing and books. He found it restful. Some believe that he found time everyday to “play with his stamps.”
By the time he reactivated himself in politics and became the Governor of New York, stamp collecting had become an extremely popular hobby. King George V of Great Britain was known to be an avid collector, albeit of the more exotic ephemera. His son, who later became King George VI, was also a stamp collector. And when FDR became US President, its popularity reached its height.
The Postmaster General made sure the President received the latest stamp issues, and FDR personally sketched out new ideas for stamps.
The Presidential Philatelist
Once WWII started in Europe, Roosevelt’s stamp collection played a dual role. Naturally, the old hobby relaxed him, and his closest aides understood its importance in channeling his thought processes. Then again, his interest and knowledge of geography became even more acute.
Historian Paul Boller tells a story that in 1940, FDR was cruising on the Presidential Yacht and learned of an Allied air raid bombing of a small Mediterranean island called Taranto. His aides, including some military brass, had never heard of the place. But Roosevelt, having stamps from that island, and having checked the atlas and reference books, knew exactly where it was. He also knew the distance between Taranto and Malta and Gibraltar, ergo why it was an important strategic location.
After the Japanese Attack on Pearl Harbor, tiny obscure islands in the Pacific Ocean were in all the headlines. He had obtained stamps from many of those places years earlier, and the knowledge of them became a great benefit, especially when he talked to the American public in his “fireside chats.”
The Collection
After his death in 1945, FDR’s stamp collection was sold at auction. It was valued at $80,000, which would be about $1.5 million today.
But it was not sold as a unit. Serious collectors of anything are seldom interested in purchasing a large ready-made collection. They want what they don’t have.
Therefore, it was sold in pages. Naturally, with the provenance of the President, including an authenticated note stating “from the collection of President Franklin D. Roosevelt”, the stamps brought many times that amount. The parts vastly outweighed the whole!
One can still obtain items from the collection. And more than 80 countries have issued their own stamps honoring U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Sources:
Boller, Paul – Presidential Diversions: Presidents at Play: From George Washington to George W. Bush, Harcourt, 2007.
Davis, Kenneth – FDR: The Beckoning of Destiny – Putnam, 1971
Lippman, Theo. Jr. – The Squire of Warm Springs – Playboy Press, 1977
https://www.fdrlibrary.org/presidential-hobbies
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