The Postmark and Just the Postmark

Here is an odd collecting style I have seen a few times now: someone builds a collection of postmarks but trims them right through the stamps to fit into some fixed boxes on the page.

I don't get it.  Yes, you are focusing on the postal marking, but the stamp is part of the usage.  I have seen other postmark collectors trim the envelopes all to some specific index-card size, to fit in a card file.  I always trim mine to about one or two millimeters from the edges of the stamp and markings -- they come out as a wide range of different sizes of paper, but it feels the most natural to me. 

I recall distantly that the Postmark Collectors Club used to print the "official" rules for how to collect these.  Well, the PCC is still around and has a good introduction, saying you can collect them any way you like.

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