World Stamp Expo brings collectors to Weston

*Visitors from the 2026 World Stamp Expo look at exhibits in the Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History’s main hall. (Addison Antonoff/Weston Observer)*

Philatelic fanatics flocked to Boston this week for the 2026 World Stamp Expo. Many made the 17-mile trek to Weston to visit the Spellman Museum of Stamps and Postal History, one of two postal museums in the United States.

The Spellman Museum bussed guests to Weston on Monday and Thursday to share its exhibits with postage aficionados. Refugio Arellango Jr. was one of the visitors who made his way to the Spellman Museum from Los Angeles, where he is based.

“This is like stamp-collector heaven. It’s our Super Bowl,” he said as he perused books on French postage stamps at the book sale in the museum’s community room.

In the main exhibit space, guests learned about Massachusetts postal history, sending mail to the Arctic and the history of Zeppelins. Stamps were on display as well as notable letters, including a singed example that survived the Hindenburg crash.

On Monday evening, philatelic social media influencers, including Spellman curator Ken Flowers, held a panel on modern stamp collecting and the online community that has formed around the hobby.

Outside, Toni and Ted Stenuf sorted through a stack of postcards. The two had traveled from Syracuse, New York, to attend the Expo. Stamp collecting has been a lifelong hobby for Ted, who focuses on stamps from Germany and Austria. He began stamp collecting because he inherited a collection from his grandfather, who brought his own collection to the United States after he fled Austria in the 1930s. Toni has a greater interest in postcards, but the two both love postal history as a way to share personal and world history.

“It’s something to pass down for our children, so they know the family history,” Toni said.

David Wiener, a lifelong member of the American Philatelic Society, felt similarly. To him, the world of stamps is a lens with which to view what is important to people through time.

“The thing with stamp collecting is your knowledge is never satiated,” Wiener said. “There is always more to know and learn about history and the world.”