A stamped envelope can tell a lot of stories.

Chet Browning, photographer for former Gov. Bruce Sundlun, knows. He found the prize of his stamp collection on e-Bay. It’s an envelope that traveled by air, rail and sea to make a circular trip of more than 6,000 miles from England and back.

Browning didn’t have the envelope with him but Bill Zech of East Greenwich was holding an envelope with an indicia indicating it had been transported by dirigible. Bill was cleaning out the house of his late parents, both of whom were avid stamp collectors. He figured if anyone could tell what he should do with the collection it would be members of the Rhode Island Philatelic Society that held their annual show Saturday at the Pilgrim Lutheran Church on Warwick Avenue.

Chet knew immediately what Bill was holding. He wasn’t interested at first. He pointed to a typed name on the envelope. Did Bill have any idea who that was? He did know; it was a friend of an uncle. Now Chet was on another path as Bill filled in some family details. This wasn’t just a piece of mail carried by dirigible — it was a piece of family history. That gave it value. Chet offered to buy it for $15. Bill readily agreed. Chet handed him a 20 and when Bill told him he didn’t have change, Chet told him to keep the change.

There were a lot of stories Saturday.

Collector and dealer, J.R. Greene of Athol, Massachusetts, had binders filled with stories. He started collecting when he was six. He discovered his passion for history in the process. He dug into local history and became fascinated by President Calvin Coolidge. He pointed out that during Coolidge’s administration there were no deficits and “the working people didn’t pay taxes.” For years Greene wrote a weekly column in the Athol newspaper and authored 23 books on local history and President Coolidge.

He became a collectable dealer in 1972 and a member of the American Philatelic Society four years later. He’s witnessed the changes in stamp collecting. He estimated society membership has dwindled from 50,000 when he joined to about 23,000. As for collecting stamps, he said it offers niches for collectors, such as those with an eye for flowers, birds and landscapes or stamps issued for commemorative events. But he’s finding fewer and fewer younger collectors, with values declining.

“The real rare stuff sells to rich people,” he said, “and the not so good stuff to poor people.” That he says leaves a lot of mediocre collections on the market.

There weren’t many young people at Saturday’s show.

“It’s a dying hobby,” he said. For Greene, the Rhode Island show is only his second since the pandemic brought things to a halt three years ago.

Michael Imbruglia, president of the Rhode Island Society that numbers about 70 members, offered a more positive perspective. He said the pandemic shutdown was a shot in the arm to collecting as people had the time and took an interest in family collections and learning about stamps.

The Rhode Island Society was started 135 years ago. It meets the first Saturday of every month at 2:30 p.m. at the church. Members may listen to a presentation, plan for the annual show or have one of their own go through their collection. There’s always a story. Annual dues are $10. A pamphlet about the society reads, “In today’s fast pace environment, more and more families are finding stamp collecting as a way to spend time together away from the television set, video games, and the internet chat rooms. Young children are especially keen to learn about geography, history and the world around them.”

As for history and geography, the envelope Browning bought off e-Bay is a trip. The first leg was stamped May 4, 1936 in Providence — the 160th celebration of Rhode Island’s independence — where it then traveled to Lakehurst Naval Station in New Jersey for the maiden voyage of the dirigible Hindenburg from America to Germany (the airship crashed a year later in a fiery blaze on May 6, 1937 at Lakehurst). The letter was next stamped in Frankfurt on May 12. Upon arriving in England, it traveled by train for the maiden voyage to New York by the Queen Mary, and then returned to Providence. 

Browning is a trove of stories and an avid historian. He has catalogued tens of thousands of photographs taken by the late Arthur Carter, who recorded events and just about every type of aircraft that landed at  Rhode Island airports. Browning and Carter were friends and together they made a series of story boards displayed in the Green Airport terminal before it was torn down. The display is in storage some place.

There’s a lot of oral history, too, which really has little to do with stamps, but since air mail was the topic, Browning related.

William Labonte was barely 10 years old when Charles Lindberg made his historic non-stop trans-Atlantic flight. The plane made its return trip via boat and after it arrived Lindberg made celebrity appearances around the country. One of the stops was in Rhode Island and Labonte’s father, a mechanic, was called on to do some engine work on the Spirit of St. Louis. Billy begged to go along and soon after the boy’s inquisitiveness and restlessness was distracting his father’s work. Billy was exiled to the cockpit. Labonte went on to become a pilot of a B24 that flew 24 missions during World War II.

Browning still has hopes of finding a “cover,” (an envelope or package with an address, typically with postage stamps that have been cancelled) for the first parcel post flight between Boston and New York. The package, said Browning, contained Boston Baked Beans.

He’s on a mission and surely there will be a story.