Dubai: The telephone top-up cards that we see today look all the same and it is easy for somebody to toss the card away without a moment's hesitation once it's been used.
However, when etisalat first introduced telephone cards in 1986, each series was printed with a message and, over the years, it was known for using cards as a medium to educate people about the country's rules or about the various types of local wildlife, customs and traditions.
One person who took a personal interest in these telephone cards was John Joseph, 62, who collected them with a passion for over 20 years. His interest nevertheless was not restricted to cards from the UAE and by swapping telephone cards by mail with aficionados around the world, he managed to collect more than 100,000 from over 100 countries including Thailand, Bahamas, Hungary, Japan and the US.
After years of extensively collecting cards, Joseph was recognised in 1994 by the Guinness Book of World Records for having the largest telephone card collection in the world.
However, the family is now looking for someone who shares their passion for the collection. "I've spent more years here than I did in my home country. It is time for us to go back now, and I hope that I can give the collection of telephone cards to somebody who has a passion for it just like our family had a passion in collecting them," said Joseph's wife Grace.
Joseph's interest in collecting telephone cards took hold when he was in school and used to collect stamps and coins from his home town in Kerala. Soon after completing his studies, Joseph moved to Dubai in 1976 where he found a job as a clerk in the British Bank of the Middle East. His passion for philately and numismatics soon widened into telephone cards when they were introduced in 1986.
"My favourite card is the one with the country's football team when they participated in the World Cup in 1990 that was held in Italy. The Dh30 telephone card had a value of Dh1,000 and one man came up to me and was willing to pay Dh2,000. But I didn't give it to them and kept it instead," Joseph says, as he points out that over the time the card lost its value.
With the encouragement of their father, Joseph's three children (seen in ragout) then started to collect telephone cards. His wife Grace John, 59, also chipped in and helped the family sort the cards.
"I never saw it as a waste of time because it was a way to increase your knowledge and to learn more things about the country's culture and environment, like the birds, fish and date palms," she notes.
Telephone cards from the collection also commemorate important events, such as when Shaikh Ahmad Al Maktoum won the UAE's first gold medal in the Athens 2004 Olympic Games.
Grace arrived in Dubai a few years after her husband, but has decided to take early retirement from the Department of Health and Medical Services so that she can go back home with her husband.
The collection has generated interest from local authorities in the past and it was exhibited in the first international telephone cards exhibition in 1995, which was held in co-ordination with the UAE General Post Office. Dozens of the family's cards were also then temporarily exhibited in three public libraries, the Dubai Shopping Festival in 2000, and have also made their way to international exhibitions in Singapore and India.
