Stamp booklets in tune with the times
From 31 January 2024 to 13 October 2025, the Musée de La Poste is offering visitors the chance to discover the history of the stamp book, an emblematic object in the postal world.
- 31 January 2024, 11:00 - 13 October 2025, 18:00
The exhibition
The booklet of commonly used stamps bears witness to the evolution and uses of society. Through a collection of nearly 200 stamp booklets, posters and original drawings, visitors will be invited to wander through the different formats and messages of this object, a reflection of the changes in French society.
The exhibition Carnets de timbres dans l'air du temps traces the evolution of this everyday object through three major themes - advertising, uses and art - in an original, illuminated scenography.
Booklet of 40 postage stamps 1906-1910 (cover and inside)
Booklet of 20 postage stamps 1922 (Vinot-Deguingand cover)
Booklet of 20 postage stamps 1922 (Ovaltine cover)
Booklet of 8 postage stamps (Bussang interior - private issue)
Booklet of 20 stamps (Au Louvre cover)
Booklet of 12 postage stamps 2013 (double-sided Take the bull by the horns)
Booklet of 12 postage stamps 2016 (double-sided Correspondances planétaires)
118 years old and still going strong!
The origin of the book of stamps, in 1906, was based above all on a need for practicality: the desire of the French to have a dozen stamps to hand in an object that could easily be slipped into a handbag or wallet.
The booklets of stamps are produced entirely by La Poste. The medium was neutral, and their usefulness was paramount.
In 1922, La Poste commissioned a dealer to make the covers for the booklets. Advertisers saw this as an opportunity, even going so far as to use the margins of postage stamps, thus creating ‘publicitimbres’ (advertising stamps). Until 1940, the creation of stamp booklets was prolific, with 1,500 covers produced. Four themes predominated: health and prevention, cars, department stores and consumer products, as well as leisure, travel and spas.
Faced with this influx of private production, La Poste ended its stamp book concession in the 1950s and began printing the book covers itself. The format of the booklets changed, and the emphasis shifted back to utility, with less and less space for advertising.
From 1985 onwards, new themed series were introduced: famous people, stamp day, and the increasingly important ‘message’ booklets. La Poste called on painters, cartoonists, street artists and comic strip illustrators. From now on, the stamp booklet that the French hold so dear is not just useful, it is a genuine artistic creation.
In the media
Magazine Caractère > Lien vers la page
Sortir à Paris > Lien vers la page
Art du timbre gravé > Lien vers la page
