Inside a little store, tucked away in a Costa Mesa strip mall, two sisters walk in on a recent Tuesday morning, seeking some advice.
What should they do, they asked the owners of Coast Philatelics, a store for stamp collectors that sells historical postage, postcards and newspaper clippings, with their late father’s stamp collection?
There, philatelic, or the art of stamp collecting, has surpassed generations — even today, when Labubus, Stanley cups, Disneyland popcorn buckets and Squishmallows stuffed animals make up some of the more popular collectibles among younger crowds.
Coast Philatelics turns 50 years old in October. It’s filled wall to wall, and floor to ceiling, with inventory collected over the past 70 years. And it serves as a resource for collectors and the curious alike, taking them on a journey around the world and through time.
And those small stamps at Coast Philatelics also tell the story of Bob and Barbara Chisholm, how they fell in love, how they turned their collecting passion into a small business and how they became a fixture in their community.
A stamp in the right direction
Bob Chisholm, 82, started stamp collecting when he was a Boy Scout in 1952 in Palo Alto. He bought a book of stamps for $1, which included a commemorative stamp of George Rogers Clark, a Revolutionary War officer.
The stamp — which features a detailed image of the British troops surrendering — caught Bob Chisholm’s eye and started his love of stamp collecting.
Philatelic came later in life for Barbara Chisholm, 82, who was introduced to the hobby by a coworker while working at a medical office in the early 1960s. She bought $5 of stamps every week and became fast friends with the owner of one of the Santa Ana shops she visited.
Their lives, and respective hobbies, ran parallel to one another until Barbara Chisholm’s friend — the same Santa Ana stamp shop owner — introduced her to Bob Chisholm in 1969.
Their first date? A stamp show in San Diego — which just happened to be on her brother’s birthday and Father’s Day. After spending the day at the show, Barbara Chisholm took Bob Chisholm back to her family’s house in Costa Mesa, where he was encouraged to join the family photo.
“Well, you never know,” Barbara Chisholm recalled her uncle saying at the time.
Sure enough, the pair married — just six months after their first date at the stamp show.
“It was one of those that when it’s right, it’s right,” Barbara Chisholm said. “That’s how we met.”
Building their inventory — and their family
For the first two years of their marriage, Barbara Chisholm took a job as a paralegal at a law office in Orange while Bob Chisholm worked as a stamp dealer at Natick, a stamp shop in Los Angeles that opened in 1914 but has since closed.
But then they spotted a 250-square-foot storefront on the corner of Randolph and Baker in Costa Mesa.
They “borrowed” $85 out of the savings account they started for their 2-year-old son to cover the rent — and secured their very own stamp shop.
“He had more money than his parents,” Barbara Chisholm joked about their son’s unknowing contribution. “And he fronted the first month’s rent, and we had built a little inventory.”
The Chisholms opened Coast Philatelics on Oct. 28, 1975. At the time, it was one of almost 30 stamp shops in Orange County. The couple made $164 on their first day, and quickly replaced the $85 they borrowed from their son.
Barbara Chisholm worked in the Costa Mesa store while Bob Chisholm stayed at his L.A. stamp-dealing job. While their first day sales were a huge success — almost two months’ rent — other days went by slowly with few sales.
“I had to discount two three-cent stamps to get my nickel for the day,” Barbara Chisholm said about a slow day at the store. “And I was heartbroken. How do you survive on a nickel?”
Despite some slow days and hard times, the Chisholms were able to save enough money to move just down the street in 1977 to their current store, located at 1113 Baker St.
Now with 1,000 square feet, the couple grew their inventory and filled the store to the brim with stamps as well as newspaper clippings, postcards and envelopes from around the world, and throughout history. Bob Chisholm and Barbara Chisholm own one of Great Britain’s first ever distributed stamps, priced at $1,500.
Today, nearly 50 years after they first opened their doors, Coast Philatelics is the only store open just for stamp collecting in the county. Other Orange County stores sell stamps as a side to coins, jewelry and stationery.
“You can learn from all of this,” Barbara Chisholm said. “Every country tells its culture, its history, its geography, its current events, all through stamps.”
A tale of traveling stamps
Bob and Barbara Chisholm have not only collected stamps from around the world — stamps have taken them and their three children across the country.
“Every summer, we took all three of them and packed them in the car,” Barbara Chisholm said. “We’d load it up with as much inventory, and two or three suitcases, and off we’d go to the museums and ballparks and capitol buildings and all the things that you can do without a lot of money.”
The family has traveled to all 50 states for stamp shows and has traveled overseas to London and Australia. While their children are now adults, Bob and Barbara Chisholm still pack up the car and drive to shows every summer, together.
The couple is getting ready for one of those trips next month when they’ll travel to Illinois and participate in the Great American Stamp Show — the largest annual stamp event in the U.S. — for their 41st time.
When they’re not travelling to stamp shows, the Chisholms open Coast Philatelics three times a week: Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
On the days the store is closed, Bob Chisholm undergoes dialysis treatment. About nine years ago, he was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. While his voice is starting to weaken — he said he is only recently beginning to experience health issues related to the disease — Bob Chisholm is still able to conduct appraisals and assist customers.
“It’s a little struggle to keep the shop open,” Barbara Chisholm said. “But he’s got a smile when he walks in the door. He sits and talks with his customers, and we’re still paying the bills.”
“I have a 26-year-old brain trapped in an 83-year-old body,” Bob Chisholm said.
The couple offers free appraisals of stamp collections that people can bring in when the shop is open. Bob Chisholm looks at the stamps when he is in the store, but Barbara Chisholm often spends 8-10 hours on days the store is closed looking at people’s collections.
“We’re giving back to the hobby,” Barbara Chisholm said. “This hobby has given us so much.”
The couple is also part of several local stamp collecting clubs, including the Long Beach Stamp Club, Orange County Philatelic Society, Orange County Senior Club and Saddleback Stamp Club.
Coast Philatelics is turning 50 this October. While their customer base has aged with the store and stamp collecting has become less popular, they renewed their lease for another three years in February.
“It’s just a fascinating, fascinating hobby,” Barbara Chisholm said. “I never thought we’d be in it this long.”
But Bob Chisholm always knew he wanted to be involved in stamp collecting, in some form.
“This is the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire life,” Bob Chisholm recalled saying when he first started dealing at the shop in Los Angeles in 1964.
“It’s been a good life,” Barbara Chisholm said. “There were a lot of tough days, tough weeks, but it’s been a blessing. We’ve been very happy doing this.”
Coast Philatelics is open Tuesdays and Thursdays from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.