Series I: Early Albums, 1937-1955

Comprises albums formed during Mallender's early collecting years. The first three albums (volumes A-C) in this series form a general collection of Commonwealth stamps of the period. Organization is alphabetical, by country or territory. Stamps are placed in standard mounts, with multiple mounts affixed to the recto of each album page (on black paper). The majority of mounted items are individual stamps, with infrequent mounting of stamp sheets or booklets. The country or territory name is written in white ink at the top of each page, with additional notes interspersed describing the title or date of an individual stamp or series.

Volumes D and E of the first series house thematic collections. Volume D contains three themes: the 75th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union, in 1949; the Coronation of King George VI, 1937; and the Silver Wedding anniversary of George VI and Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, 1948. Each of these three themes bears an original watercolor title page, in Mallender's youthful hand. Stamps within each theme are organized alphabetically by Commonwealth country or territory, without annotations. The next album (volume E) is also thematic, but the stamps are mounted on pages printed and organized by a publisher for each of the occasions. The first of these is titled British Empire Peace & Victory Issues published ca. 1946 by Royal Publishing House, Racine. The second is titled The White Ace Historical Album for the coronation of H.M. Queen Elizabeth II, published in 1953 by the Washington Press, Newark. In both parts, the publisher has allocated space for a fixed set of stamps to be collected, and Mallender has collected and mounted every stamp required.