Stamp collecting is a bizzare hobby to me even though its one of the world's most popular hobbies
It does seems to be scraping the barrel of hobbies you could have.
Yeah, and the list is always changing with interests and fashions.  Seems a strange one to stand the test of time.
I heard it was a big source of income for some countries, who create limited runs of elaborate designs mainly just for collectors.
Yeah, the people that make the stamps get a net profit from selling specifically to collector that won't use them.
The first one was the Penny Black , and was issued by Britain in 1840 with a picture of Queen Victoria.
Victorian era
In the history of the United Kingdom, the Victorian era was the period of Queen Victoria's reign, from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. The era followed the Georgian period and preceded the Edwardian period, and its later half overlaps with the first part of the "Belle Époque" era of Continental Europe. In terms of moral sensibilities and political reforms, this period began with the passage of the Reform Act 1832. There was a strong religious drive for higher moral standards led by
Hobby
A hobby is a regular activity done for enjoyment, typically during one's leisure time, not professionally and not for pay. Hobbies include collecting themed items and objects, engaging in creative and artistic pursuits, playing sports, or pursuing other amusements. Participation in hobbies encourages acquiring substantial skills and knowledge in that area. A list of hobbies changes with renewed interests and developing fashions, making it diverse and lengthy. Hobbies tend to follow trends in society, for example stamp collecting was popular during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries