BGM Connect

Many people are familiar with prepaid calling cards, but not everyone knows that they have a somewhat unusual hobby associated with them. While the majority of people collect telephone calling cards to contact loved ones who live far away, others collect them…just to collect them.

The fad started when the calling cards began featuring embellished advertisements and artwork. Others even bore the images of famous celebrities. A surge of people were taken with the artistic look and began stashing them away after the minutes were used.

Although the trend has been in decline lately, there are still numerous websites that feature particularly impressive individual collections. Users can browse images of the cards and read their accompanying stories.

In Britain, the trend is known as fusilately, and a collector is a fusilatelist. In America, the term is telegery.