Millennials Are Really Into *This* Old-Timey Hobby (and Here Are the Instagrams to Prove It)

They're the generation that says yes to prenups and micro-cations, and no to lunch breaks and "just married" honeymoons. So far, so modern. But when it comes to their hobbies, apparently millennials are a lot more old-school.

According to a recent article in The Guardian, stamp collecting (aka philately) is becoming increasingly popular with Generation Y. How can this be, you ask? Do millennials even post letters, anymore? (They do, albeit not often.) Chalk it up to an affinity for nostalgia combined with a desire to escape digital life, similar to other blast-from-the-past trends like vinyl or cottagecore.

We'll admit that we were initially skeptical that this was a thing among the Gen Y set, but a quick search on Instagram revealed over 300,000 #philately posts and 118,000 #stampcollection pictures. That's more than #oatmilk (228,888) and #millennialpink (a measly 75,647).

And since we're assuming that your grandma isn't active on the social media platform, we can only conclude that this retro hobby has found a new, younger audience.

Needing further proof, we turned to the ultimate millennial forum—TikTok. Here, #stamp has generated 27 million views which seems like…an impossibly high amount.

For some collectors, it's just about finding stamps that are visually appealing while others select prints based on their historical value or geographical origins. For others still, they collect based on a theme like birds, sports or famous people.

And here's another fun fact: Stamp collecting is cooler than you think. Don't believe us? Freddie Mercury and John Lennon were fans, and their collections can be seen now in the British Postal Museum & Archive and National Postal Museum, respectively.