Fireside Stamp Shop

In doing a search for stamp shops in the Silicon Valley area of Northern California, I've been frustrated time and time again.

However, I lucked out recently and discovered Fireside Stamp Shop in Sunnyvale, About 45 minutes from my son's house.

So I grabbed the wife and motored over to Sunnyvale. Good move; it was a fun adventure. When I got to Sunnyvale, I knew from Google Maps that the shop was on the right as I headed east on El Camino Real. However, I didn't know which shopping area it was in. I tried one, then the next, then the next, finally parking and turning on my smart phone GPS.

They aren't called "smart phones" for nothing. It was in the very next shopping complex.

Fireside Stamps is a small small shop, neat set up and nicely organized.

The owner couldn't help me with my United States want list of old issues as he specializes in worldwide only. However, I was able to pick up some British "machin" head definitive stamps of Queen Elizabeth II, along with a few Scotland regional machin first-day covers.

The upside of the whole experience (yes, even more enjoyable than finding stamps for my collection) was meeting the owner, Mike Campbell, a very helpful, soft-spoken elderly soul.

Next time I visit him, I'll have my France and Canada want lists with me.

Fireside Stamp Co., 454 E. El Camino Real, Sunnyvale, CA, 94087. Phone (408) 720-9779. Open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday.