The No Fee Fish and Game Stamps of California
No Fee Licenses and Stamps
The intent of Assembly Bill 616 was to raise additional revenues to help fund the DFG in its efforts to preserve the state’s wildlife resources. A stamp requirement probably seemed a fair way to spread the cost among those who stood to benefit the most — the state’s sportsmen. At the same time, lawmakers realized there were financially disadvantaged segments of the sporting population that would be hard pressed to support such a program. Therefore, Assembly Bill 616 also provided that both a license and a pair of stamps were to be issued free of charge to four classifications of California residents.
Separate stamps were not printed for these special usages, instead a pair of regular 1958 inland fishing stamps was affixed to a No Fee license and overprinted with a rubber stamp to specify the appropriate classification.
Section 428 of the Fish and Game Code was amended to read “Any person receiving aid to the aged under the provisions of the Old Age Security Law, on application to the department shall be issued a sport fishing license with two license stamps affixed thereto, free of charge.” Initially there was some confusion on the part of the public as to eligibility, so on January 17, 1958, the DFG issued a press release to help clarify the amendment (see Figure 11).
Figure 11. On January 17, 1958, the Department of Fish and Game issued a press release to help clarify eligibility for the No Fee licenses and stamps.
One type of old age overprint has been recorded: “OLD AGE NO FEE” is in one line of capital letters measuring 3 mm in height. The length of the overprint is 31 mm and as a general rule it was applied along the right side of the stamps. Old age overprints have been recorded in four colors of ink: purple, black, blue and red (see Figures 12a and b).
Figure 12a. Pairs of regular inland fishing stamps were affixed to No Fee licenses and overprinted for issue to the aged, free of charge.
Figure 12b. OLD AGE NO FEE overprints have been recorded in four different colors.
Section 429 of the Code Previously stated that totally disabled veterans were entitled to receive hunting and sport fishing license free of charge (DFG Fish and Game Code for the Years 1955-57). This section was amended to read “Every veteran, having 70 percent or greater disability, of any war in which the United States has been, or may be engaged, upon the presentation of proof of an honorable discharge from service, and proof of service-connected 70 percent or greater disability certification from the Veterans Administration, shall be entitled to the license [and stamps] provided for in this article upon application to the Department of Fish and Game, Headquarters Office, Sacramento, free of charge….”
Two types of disabled veterans overprints have been recorded: Type I has “DISABLED VETERAN / NO FEE” on two lines, while Type II has “DISABLED VETERAN” on one line only, omitting the “NO FEE” phrase. Both types are all in capital letters measuring 3 mm in height. The length of the first line is 33 mm, while the length of the second line in Type I stamps is 13 mm. All recorded examples have the overprint applied along the right side of the stamps in black or blue colored ink (see Figure 13a and b).
Figure 13a. Stamps were overprinted for issue to disabled veterans.
Figure 13b. A variety of the disabled veteran overprint has been recorded in which the “NO FEE” phrase has been left off.
Section 429 was additionally amended to read “The [California Fish and Game] commission and any employee of the department directed by the commission, may issue to any Indian residing in this state an order authorizing any person who may legally distribute sporting fishing licenses to give to such Indian a sport fishing license [and stamps], free of charge.
The orders may be distributed only to such resident Indians as are, in the discretion of the person authorized to issue said orders, financially unable to pay the fees required for said licenses, and only to such resident Indians as have not been convicted of the violation of any law of this state relating to the protection of fish and game.”
One type of Indian overprint has been recorded: “INDIAN” is in one line of capital letters measuring 2.5 mm in height. The length of the overprint is 12 mm. A total of 15 licenses, each bearing one or two stamps, were issued to Indians in 1958. Each of the six recorded pairs bears two strikes of the overprint in an opposing diagonal arrangement (see Figure 14).
Figure 14. Of the six recorded pairs of stamps which were overprinted and issued to Indians in 1958, two were consecutively issued to a husband and wife.
A single from the bottom of the five-stamp pane, also bearing two strikes of the overprint, is known affixed to the lower half of a sport fishing license. Presumably, the person issued this license did not intend to fish for trout or take frogs and was content with one stamp. This is the only recorded example of a single No Fee inland fishing stamp usage (see Figure 115).
Figure 15. One of the No Fee licenses issued to Indians in 1958 had a single overprinted stamp affixed.
Section 429.1 was added to the code by Assembly Bill 616, and reads:
“A sport fishing license [and stamps] shall be issued, free of charge, to every blind person who makes application, together with an affidavit attesting to his blindness, to the Department of Fish and Game, Headquarters Office, Sacramento.” ‘Blind person’ for purposes of this section means any person with central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better eye, with the aid of the best possible correcting glasses, or central visual acuity better than 20/200 if the widest diameter of the remaining visual field is no greater than 20 degrees.”
One type of blind overprint has been recorded: “BLIND NO FEE” is in one line of capital letters measuring 3 mm in height. The length of the overprint is 29 mm and generally one strike was applied along the right side of the stamps. Blind overprints have been recorded in black, blue and red colored inks (see figure 16a and b.) .
Figure 16a. Stamps were overprinted for issue to the blind in three different colors of ink.
Figure 16b. Occasionally two strikes of the BLIND NO FEE overprint were applied, one along each side of the stamps.