What a postage stamp can lead to …

During one of our first holidays in England, thirty years ago now, we came across a poster in a post office featuring a series of stamps that were due to be released in a few days. It was a series of four stamps with the theme: International Year of the Child. The stamps showed images of illustrations from children's books. A few days later, we returned to that post office and bought several series for the collection, plus stamps for sending the famous holiday postcards. Upon arriving home, we took another good look at the series of stamps and became curious about the children's books from which the images originated. The book of Alice in Wonderland we had it ourselves. Also a book about Winnie the Pooh we knew them. But not the other two. In the library, we found what we were looking for. The Wind in the Willows didn't appeal to us that much, but Peter Rabbit Yes. That's where the spark ignited for us to delve deeper into the stories of Peter Rabbit. During our next holiday in England, the hunt was immediately on for the series of books written by Beatrix Potter, almost 100 years ago at the time. Besides the books, we also came across many other items related to Peter Rabbit, such as embroidery, reproductions of the drawings Beatrix had made as illustrations for her books, earthenware, and porcelain figurines. We visited the house where Beatrix Potter lived (Hill Top Farm) and many other places that had a connection to her. We also found a painting by her in the National Portrait Gallery in London. We completed the booklets (the umpteenth reprint) in English quite quickly, as well as in Dutch, and even in Frisian, but the porcelain figurines were much more fun! So we started with that as well. It soon became apparent that, just like with stamps, differences could be discovered here too in the shape, the manufacturer, the colors, you name it. First manufactured by Beswick, later by Royal Doulton. The bottom of the figurines became a criterion: the factory stamp. And so the collection of figurines continued to expand. Collecting mania? You could certainly call it that! But it was simply a sport to visit all kinds of shops, from modern to antique, on a figurine hunt. The figurines were produced from 1948, initially by John Beswick's pottery in Loughton, near Stoke-on-Trent. Later, in 1969, Beswick was acquired by Royal Doulton, and in 1989 it was decided to replace the 'Beswick' brand with that of Royal Doulton. All of this can be traced via the stamps applied to the bottom of the figurines. Until the rights passed to a factory in Malaysia ten years ago. End of story for these figurines! Because the figurines from Malaysia looked very different. The figurines are now becoming 'antiques,' as they are no longer available new. This is also reflected in the prices, which are definitely rising. We now have more than 100 different porcelain figurines from the stories by Beatrix Potter; initially, the manufacturer didn't matter, but now we are looking for both Beswick as Royal DoultonUnfortunately, we are still missing a few copies, or is that fortunate? Because it is just like with stamps: once you have a complete set, there is nothing left to it! Do you agree?