Since the first stamp was issued in Great Britain in 1840, people have saved them and arranged them neatly in albums.

But since stamp counters and stamp departments have disappeared from U.S. stores in the past decades, it's been more difficult for philatelists to bring new collectors into the fold.

On Saturday, the Ventura County Philatelic Society held its 17th annual Youth Stamp Fair at the Dudley House in Ventura, in hopes that children will discover why the hobby of stamp collecting has endured for nearly 170 years.

"Now it's just a lot harder unless they bump into this or the booth at the fair or a friend or relative," said John Weigle of Oxnard, who organized the event and also works as a copy editor at The Star.

Children received a stamp passport as they walked in the door, then wandered to booths where they learned how to identify stamps, how to properly remove them from paper and how to store and mount them. At each booth, they received a stamp on their passport — in the form of a cork cutout like those used to cancel stamps in the 1800s.

At one table, Jason Jacobs, 9, of Ventura, scanned a pile of stamps and found four different ones adorned with birds, then arranged them on a strip of paper to make a bookmark. Adults at the table used a laminating machine to finalize his project.

Jason said he collects all kinds of things: stamps, coins, Hot Wheels. He's lost track of how many stamps he's collected in the two years since he took on the hobby: "It's more than I can count," he said.

He shops a local stamp store, scavenges swap meets, and "he robs my mail," added his father, Paul Jacobs.

Jason isn't looking for anything in particular. "There are just so many of them," he said.

Children sifted through boxes of free stamps arranged on a table. The stamps had made their way from as far away as Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. One paid homage to the 175th anniversary of the Bill of Rights, while another celebrated the bird the American kestrel.

At one booth, homeschooler Emily Daniel, 13, of Ojai, took a quiz, properly identifying the country of origin for 12 stamps. She said she picked up the hobby last year at the stamp fair and has since collected hundreds of stamps. "It's fun, and it's kind of easy," she said.

Ventura County Philatelic Society president Ken Weber said stamp collecting was vying for children's time on Saturday, when soccer and other hobbies were in full swing. Sometimes the fair has drawn as many as 85 children, though this year the group estimates 50 to 65 children showed up.

But Weber speculated that those who stopped by the fair had found a hobby they could make their own. "They're learning some history, geography, social studies," Weber said. "Every stamp tells its own particular story, whether it's a castle or a flower or a crane, or even a famous person."