Philately and otolaryngology. (Special Feature).

Philately (phil-, philo--loving, fondness for, affinity for; atelia--tax exemption, from Greek) originated as a hobby and business when the first postage stamps appeared in England (1840) with Queen Victoria's portrait (a one-cent stamp--the "Penny Black").

Collecting stamps started when every country produced its own emissions. Initially, people would collect "worldwide," as there were just a few stamps. Gradually, by 1935, diversification attracted them to collect by categories, such as countries, groups of nations, and themes (e.g., animals, flowers, sports, historical facts, etc.).

Medical subjects were quickly sought. Most countries produced stamps related to health, the Red Cross, personalities, events, and other topics related to medicine. At present, medical philately is widely popular. Physicians can find this to be a relaxing, self-educational, and amusing activity. Participation in reunions, clubs, shows, and publications are among other related activities. Investment can be small or significant; storage is no problem.

The included examples represent one of many possible medical themes in stamp collecting. Compared with stamps related to cardiology, ophthalmology and other specialties, examples related to otolaryngology are still relatively few (despite the many contributions to medicine from our specialty, important personalities from ENT history are not often placed in postal emissions).

Medical philately is one of many forms illustrating medicine in history (old and recent). Some argue that it's a hobby that will be edged out by nonstamp (electronic, Internet, etc.) communication systems. Personal issues might still require an envelope with a stamp, however. Moreover, the great majority of the world's inhabitants do not have Internet access, but they do have a local post office and will continue to use the mail for communicating. That might be bad news for technology advances, but it's good for "hobby preservation."

The stamps shown here are in no particular order of importance.

Bibliography

Kyle RA, Shampo MA. Medicine and stamps. N.Y.: Krieger, 1980.

Newarla GJ. Medical History in Philately. Madison, Wis.: American Topical Stamp Assoc., 1964.

Rank RT. Ophthalmology in Stamps. Alcon Laboratories, Inc., 1975.

Taschereau Y. Asi se coleccionan sellos. Barcelona-Mexico: Daimon Publications, 1979.

Upmark EA. Medicine told by stamps. London: Hayes Printing, 1976.

Weir N. Otolaryngology. An illustrated history. London-Toronto: Butterworths, 1990.

RELATED ARTICLE:

1. Hippocrates (460-377 BC). Diverse concepts and procedure pertaining to head-neck (Hungary).

2. Andreas Vesalius (1514-1564). Description of many head-neck anatomic structures (Transkei, South Africa).

3. Paracelsus (1493-1541). Diseases and treatments involving respiratory tract (Germany).

4. Avicena (Ibn Sina; 980-1037). Surgical instruments and medical books. Many ENT applications (Mali).

5. Nature's similarities to human cochlea? (Hungary).

6. Design mimicks nature (Dominica).

7. Andras Chazar (1745-1816). Central Europe's deafness school's studies and therapy (Hungary).

8. Pierre Fauchard (1678-1761). First dentistry treatise; included oral pathology, as well (France).

9. Marcello Malpighi (1628-1694). Histologic description of respiratory mucosa and others (Transkei, South Africa).

10. Demosthenes (384?-322 BC). Symbol of overcoming speech defects. Language Congress (Mexico).

11. Samuel Heinicke (1727-1790). 18th-century institute for deafness in Leipzig (former East Germany).

12. Nikolai Pirogov (1810?-1881). Contributions in anatomy and surgery of head-neck (former Soviet Union).

13. Hand sign language (United Kingdom).

14. International Year of Disabled Persons--Sign Language (Barbados).

15. Charles Michel (de l'Epee) (1712-1789). First school for deafness in Paris (France).

16. Dangers of smoking--World Health Day, 1980 (Iraq).

17. Danger of noise exposure (Israel).

18. Dominique Larrey (1766-1842). Army (Napoleonic era) surgeon. Neck wounds management (France).

19. Theodor Billroth (1829-1894). Medical School in Vienna: first laryngectomy (Austria).

20. Galen (129-ca216). Some anatomical head-neck concepts (Yemen).

21. Hyacinthe Vincent (1862-1950). Clinical and microbiology descriptions in oral pathology and bacteriology (France).

22. Thomas H. Gallaudet (1787-1851). First school for the deaf in United States (United States).

23. Helen Keller (1880-1968; deaf-blind girl) and her teacher Anne Sullivan. Example of overcoming impairment (United States).

24. Same historical issue (Brazil).

25. Theodor Kocher (1841-1917). Neck (thyroid) surgery techniques (Switzerland).

26. William S. Halsted (1852-1922). Improved surgical technique, including head-neck (Transkei, South Africa).

27. Adam Politzer (1835-1920). Otologist. Founder of ENT clinic in Vienna (Austria).

28. Sir William Osler (1849-1919). Brilliant clinician; some ENT descriptive contributions (Canada).

29. "Young woman with earrings." Painting by Rembrandt (Mongolia).

30. Robert Barany (1876-1936). Hungarian otologist. Nobel Prize in Medicine 1914 (Austria).

31. Same physician (Hungary).

32. Gyorgy Bekesy (1899-1972). Neurotologist. (Hungary).

33. 8th International Congress Otorhinolaryngology. (IFOS) 1964; concurrent with International Pediatric Congress (Japan).

34. 11th European Congress of Audiology. Budapest, 1972 (Hungary).

35. Neurotology Congress in Budapest. Endre Hogyes (Hungarian physiologist). 1980 (Hungary).

36. Rehabilitation of deaf children. International Year of the Disabled, 1980 (Bophuthatswana, South Africa).

37. Only stamp showing a hearing aid? "Hearing aid around 1960" (Mexico).

38. The "recognizing deafness" and "American sign language" stamps, 1996 (United States).

39. The "bionic ear" (cochlear implant). An Australian contribution to otology (Australia).

40. A modern image CT scan study--part of the 20th-Century Advances" stamp collection (United States).

41. Xavier Bichat (1771-1802). Anatomist: Fatty tissue of cheek carries his name (France).

42. Albrecht von Haller (1708-1777). Physician-anatomist. Neck anatomy contributions (Switzerland).

43. Anton von Eiselsberg (1860-1939). Surgeon: description of physiology of parathyroid glands (Austria).

From Miami Children's Hospital, Department of Otolaryngology, Miami, Fla.

Reprint requests: Isaac Shubich, MD, Miami Children's Hospital, Department of Otolaryngology, 3100 SW 62 Ave., Suite 124, Miami, FL 33155. Phone: [phone]; fax: [phone]; e-mail: [e-mail]