November cartoon caption contest winner digs a deep hole

U.S. Stamp Notes by John M. Hotchner

The November cartoon caption contest featured the stamp from the 2013 Building A Nation pane of 12 (Scott 4801) showing a photograph of a coal miner (4801g). The face value of these forever stamps at the time of issue was 46¢.

The miner on the stamp seems to be having a difficult time doing whatever he is doing. Linn’s readers had one overriding thought as they considered the evident angst on the miner’s face, and it is one that matches up with the current presidential sweepstakes.

The first entry received in this category, “With all the price increases, I may never dig myself out of this hole,” was sent by Phil Schorr of St. Louis, Mo.

Another popular concept with Linn’s readers was the relationship between the man’s occupation and philatelic varieties. John Wood of Montgomery, N.Y., made this connection with “What do you mean ‘miner’ flaws?”

A frustration experienced by many stamp collectors inspired the line by David Epps of Portland, Ore., which wins the philatelic part of the contest: “Getting the gum off these used Forever stamps is a real pain in the neck.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Thomas Ream of Spring Grove, Pa., takes the nonphilatelic line prize with the thought shown in the illustrated box.

Both winners will receive a 13-week subscription to Linn’s (a new subscription or an extension).

Here are the best of the other runners-up:

“I didn’t think it would be so hard to dig up an affordable C3a for my collection,” by Nathan Wendland of Winona, Minn.

“Hand me the duct tape!” from Sherman Lundy of Cedar Falls, Iowa.

“I’m telling you Izzy, there’s gold in them thar hills!” by Mike Piedmont of Clearwater, Fla.

“So THAT’s where all the socks I lost in the dryer went,” by Laura and Tom Tomaszek of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

“I got hired to dig up dirt on the opposition candidate,” from Steve Kotler of San Francisco, Calif.

Thanks and a tip of the hat to all who entered.

The next contest will be announced in the Jan. 8, 2024, issue of Linn’s.

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