On Saturday 4 February, the Nanango Stamp Club celebrated its 30th anniversary. While other small rural stamp clubs have gone by the wayside, Nanango is still going strong. This is thanks in large part to its founder, Joan Orr MAP (Member of the Australian Philatelic Order), ACCCF (Fellow of the Australian Commonwealth Collectors’ Club of NSW) and an enthusiastic group of stamp club members.
Joan Orr founded the Nanango Stamp Club in 1987, after hearing from the postmaster that many people were enquiring as to why there wasn’t a stamp club in or near the area. Joan isn’t even from Nanango; she lives in Brisbane, but as the Education Officer for the Queensland Philatelic Council (a role that she still holds) that wasn’t going to stop her setting up a club there.
There were 20 people at the inaugural meeting, and at the club’s 30th anniversary show there were more than 140 people. Joan liked the area and the people so much that she remains a member of the Nanango Stamp Club and was made a life member in 1991.
We interviewed Joan Orr about Nanango, local stamp clubs, the future of philately and her own incredible involvement in the Australian and international philatelic community for more than 40 years.
Originally named Goode’s Inn and then Burnett, in 1859 this rural Queensland town’s name was changed to Nanango when the Post Office was established. The name “Nanango” is said to have evolved from the Indigenous Wakka Wakka word “Nunangi”, which means “large watering hole”, but it is also said to have been the name of a local Indigenous leader at the time the town was settled by Europeans.
“Nanango is a lovely place. It’s 20km south east of Kingaroy and a 190km drive from Brisbane. It was built on the timber industry; red cedar mainly. In 1850 gold was found, but mining was short lived. Now, its main industries are beef, peanuts and grains, and there’s a coal mine nearby,” Joan said.
“At some Nanango stamp shows we get more than 200 people attending. This isn’t as normal as it used to be. There used to be stamp clubs in lots of small country towns, but eventually clubs close. By the same token, if a club closes, its members may either go to another club or keep up their collecting and just attend the larger shows – I see a lot of people doing that.”
“Interestingly, Kingaroy’s stamp club closed, but Nanango’s got bigger and the people there do a great job in promoting stamp collecting to young children. They have six schools in the area and each has a stamp club in the school itself, and children often attend the adults’ meetings.”
We asked Joan what could be done, on a broader scale, to get more children and younger people interested and involved in philately.
“We need more things online, because kids spend a lot of time on their iPads, phones etc and, very importantly, we need to take a stamp and explain the ‘what’, the ‘why’ and the ‘how’. We need to communicate the stories behind them too. Don’t dumb things down because you think kids aren’t capable – that’s not giving them enough credit. Kids don’t just want everything to be ‘fun’ – stamps are about serious stories and that can be appealing to them too. I have been successful in getting three grandchildren into collecting and my son also collected when he was young, so I really believe this to be true,” notes Joan.
“Adults aged 45 plus is a growing group of collectors. If you give them an idea about stamps when they are young, once they are near retiring age or their kids are off their hands, then they might say, ‘I used to collect stamps, so I’ll do that again now’.”
So, what got a young Joan Orr hooked on stamps at the tender age of seven?
“I grew up in the country, and I didn’t attend school until high school. I was, however, always a reader. I’ve read anything I could since the age of four. There wasn’t a lot to read during wartime, so I really would read anything I could get my hands on. I got into stamps because one of the women who worked for my mother was being courted by a man from the UK, who was also a stamp collector. During those visits, he would tell me all sorts of fascinating stories about his stamps, and that’s what got me hooked – the stories.”
Joan’s interest soon became an all-consuming passion and she has been deeply involved in philately over many years, in terms of collecting, exhibiting and judging, but also as a tireless promoter of philately as a hobby.
Joan is a member of the Philatelic Society of Queensland Inc., which is the oldest club in Queensland and from which she recently stepped down as President. During her membership of this society she has served in many other roles. A member of The Queensland Philatelic Council Inc. for 31 years, serving as President and then Secretary, she is currently Education Officer and Judge’s Co-ordinator. A member of several stamp clubs worldwide, Joan became an accredited National Judge in 1988 and an International Youth Judge in 1992. She has judged at many local, national and international exhibitions, also serving as a commissioner, which involves taking collectors’ exhibits to these shows. Joan is also recognised as a Fellow of the Commonwealth Collectors’ Club of New South Wales. In 1999, Joan was recognised with a Member of Australian Philately award by the Australian Philatelic Federation.
Joan Orr has received many awards for her philatelic exhibits too. Her exhibits of China Airmails achieved an international Large Vermeil medal at Praga 88. Her thematics exhibit “The Swan’s Story” has received two large silver medals. Her exhibit of the Priority Paid Mail System received a Large Vermeil medal at Thaipex 89. And Joan’s exhibit on the Australian Navigator series 1963-1974 was awarded a Large Vermeil medal with felicitations at Natstamp 98 and, more recently, won two Gold medals – one at the Sydney Stamp Expo 2011 and one at Baypex 2014 in New Zealand. Her “Printed to Private Order” (postal stationery) exhibit was given a Vermeil medal and special prize at Brisbane Stampshow 91. She also won the American Philatelic Society Award for her exhibit “Sight: our fifth sense”, a thematic exhibit based on paintings from Hungary which show how all our senses are linked.
When asked about her interest in Chinese philatelic material, Joan said:
“I’ve always had an interest in China. After all, China started nearly everything. In the 1950s, Chinese stamps were not popular, some even considering them bin material, so I got plenty of material cheaply at that time! I sold my People’s Republic of China material when prices were high in order to fund other projects.”
“As for my Airmails, I don’t think I could ever part with them!”
To learn more about the Nanango Stamp Club, or to get involved, phone 07 4163 1786.
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