Smithsonian acquires John's stamp collection
WASHINGTON - Beatles star John Lennon collected stamps as a schoolboy — and the public will soon have a chance to see them. The Smithsonian's National Postal Museum announced Friday it has acquired Lennon's stamp album and plans to display it in October. The museum purchased the album from a British stamp dealer but declined to disclose the purchase price. The museum said the album contains more than 550 stamps from around the world, including many from former British colonies such as India and New Zealand. The collection did not focus on stamps featuring music, but it may have indicated some artistic interest on Lennon's part. The album's title page had images of British monarchs, to which beards and mustaches had been added in blue ink. "We're tremendously excited at the prospect of exhibiting John Lennon's boyhood stamp album," curator of philately Wilson Hulme said. "I hope it will inspire new collectors. There are people who think stamp collecting isn't cool, and maybe this will cause them to think twice about that. It just doesn't get cooler than John Lennon." The stamp album, printed in about 1950, was given to Lennon by his cousin Stanley Parkes. ___ 

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