The Washington Post reports that Stanley Parkes, 72, started his cousin John Lennon collecting stamps and gave the former Beatle his now famous stamp album.

Parkes is quoted in the article as saying, "Well, John, the great thing about collecting stamps is that it helps with your geography. You see, the stamps come from all different countries, and you see the people on the stamps, and you take an interest in why the country exists' "

Lennon's interest in stamps lasted only a few years but the now famous circa-1950 Mercury stamp album is now on display at the Smithsonian's National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C.

In the article, Parkes is also quoted as saying, "What is this fuss over a stamp book, just because he owned it?"

Neither Parkes nor the Smithsonian knew where the album was until it appeared at an auction in June, when the museum purchased it for about $53,000.

Although this is not mentioned in the article, I've been told there is a scene in the film, "A Hard Day's Night" where Lennon is following a girl, and someone asks him, "Where are you going?"

His reply, "She's going to show me her stamp collection."

To read the entire article, click here.