Inside Linn’s: Bigfoot or dinosaur hunting, anyone?

By Charles Snee

The March 8 issue of Linn’s Stamp News just landed on the presses and goes in the mail to subscribers Monday, Feb. 22. And if you subscribe to Linn’s digital edition, you’re at the head of the line with early access Saturday, Feb. 20. While you wait for your issue to arrive in your mailbox, enjoy these three quick glimpses of exclusive content available only to subscribers. 

Bigfoot or dinosaur hunting, anyone?

Wayne Youngblood, in The Odd Lot, takes note of a recently introduced bill in the Oklahoma House of Representatives that would officially establish a Bigfoot season in that state. Youngblood’s online ruminations about this strange piece of legislation prompted a hobby colleague to create a humorous Bigfoot cinderella label based on the design of the United States 1956 $2 federal duck stamp. Youngblood also features a “dinosaur hunting license issued under the authority of ‘Al E. Oup,’ the ‘Deputy Lizard Warden’ at Vernal, Utah, home of Dinosaur National Monument and some of the finest fossil specimens found in North America.” The license, which could only be used in Uintah County, Utah, was folded and mailed in 1959 from Steamboat Springs, Colo., to Detroit, Mich. The terms of the license, as Youngblood explains, “were rather generous because the permit holder could bag up to eight prehistoric creatures.” Which creatures, you ask? You’ll have to read the column to find out.

Raising a toast to the Wine on Stamps Study Unit

In Journal Entries, Michael Baadke serves up an enticing review of the February issue of Enophilatelica, the quarterly newsletter of the Wine on Stamps Study Unit. Baadke highlights two feature articles: “one beginning a history of cognac production in Armenia, and the other with information about how growers in the Bordeaux vineyards combat destructive pests.” In the history of Armenian cognac by Igor Grigorian, Baadke draws attention to Grigorian’s observation that a 6,100-year-old cave in Armenia shows evidence of the world’s first wine production. Baadke also directs readers to Enophilatelica editor David Wolfersberger’s “compilation of new issues and new discoveries on older stamps” that are wine-related. If you enjoy wine, be sure to drink in the entire column and consider joining the Wine on Stamps Study Unit.

Collectors’ Forum: Czechoslovak Bazaar

The intent of Collectors’ Forum is the publication of letters and requests for the exchange of information within the hobby. Linn’s editors give answers or partial answers when known. In this week’s column, a collector from Louisiana comes across an unusual card franked with a Czechoslovakia 1919 120-haler Mother and Child semipostal stamp. According to the collector, “The stamp is affixed to a sheet bearing the header ‘Czechoslovak Bazaar’ and dated Oct. 20-28, 1940, for sale at the New York World’s Fair. Text at the bottom of the sheet states, ‘For The Benefit Of Czechoslovak Refugees And Relief Fund.’” To learn more about this item, Linn’s contacted Ludvik Svoboda, president of the Society for Czechoslovak Philately, who provides a detailed, informative answer. Among other things, Svoboda states that the card “can be found with a number of the early Czechoslovak stamps.” You can send your question to Collectors’ Forum, Box 4129, Sidney, OH 45365, or send it by email to linnseditorial@linns.com using the subject line Collectors’ Forum.

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