Hobby passed through generations

Stamp collecting is an interest passed down through generations for Eaton Stamp Collectors’ Club president Cyril Summerton.

Mr Summerton’s grandfather Joseph Summerton migrated to Australia in 1907 and brought with him a Penny Black, the world’s first adhesive postage stamp used in a public postal system,which dated back to 1840.

For Mr Summerton, stamps are history.

Mr Summerton’s Penny Black, along with other historic stamps, have been passed down through the men of the Summerton family and the family man hopes to eventually pass on his collection to his grandchildren.

The avid stamp collector’s prized anthology of stamps has been on display at the Eaton Community Library during the past five days where Mr Summerton has been drumming up interest in the collectors’ club.

The club meets once a month at the Bethanie Fields Lifestyle Hall where the members swap stamps and sell and buy from each other.

Mr Summerton said there must be millions of stamps stashed away in shoeboxes, in cupboards all around Australia—people just have to dig them out.

"You get so much from stamps, history, geography and it is factual, it is not made up,"Mr Summerton said.