19. Franklin Roosevelt built a formidable stamp collection
Before polio took away his use of his legs, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was a dedicated athlete, swimming, playing golf and tennis, and other sports. He continued to swim after recovering from the first attack of polio, in the belief that it would help strengthen his legs. But his favorite hobby, one on which he worked nearly every day, was his stamp collection. He relaxed with it in the Oval Office, in his private study, while traveling on Navy ships and the Presidential yacht, and whenever he had a bit of spare time to give it his attention. He began collecting stamps at the age of eight. He continued to the day he died.
Roosevelt wasn’t concerned with the financial value of the stamps he collected. He treasured his hobby because the stamps reflected both history and geography, subjects of lifelong interest. Roosevelt cheerfully admitted that nearly 80% of his collection had no particular value at all, calling the stamps “scrap”. By the time of his death in April, 1945, his collection included 1.2 million stamps, all categorized and collated with meticulous care. After his death, the collection was sold at auction, with the stamps given to him officially by foreign governments retained. They are now in the Roosevelt Library.