The No Fee Fish and Game Stamps of California
Validating Stamps Issued
No Fee inland fishing stamps were discontinued after 1959. A new system for issuing No Fee licenses was developed and first used for a new classification of recipients starting in the fall of 1959. Effective September 18, additional old age residents were entitled to receive free sport fishing licenses.
According to the 1959 fish and Game Code: “Any woman over 62 years of age and any man over 65 years of age who has been a resident of this state for the five years immediately proceeding and whose total monthly income from all source, including anu old age assistance payments, does not exceed one hundred forty dollars ($140) on application to the department shall be issued a sport fishing license which may be renewable, authorizing the licensee to take fish from ocean waters of this state and amphibia anywhere in this state for purposes other than profit, free of charge.”
It is important to note that if the old age recipients in this new classification intended to fish for warm water fish and trout, they were required to purchase two inland fishing stamps and affix them to the from of their No Fee license (see Figure 26). Once again there was some confusion on the part of the public and a news release was issued to help clarify the matter (see Figure 24).
Figure 24. Once again, a news release was necessary to clarify eligibility requirements for the new classification of aged entitled to No Fee licenses.
The No Fee fishing licenses used with the new system did not have an expiration date printed on them. The licensee could renew the license by mailing it, along with a new application, to the DFG headquarters after December 15 each year. A clerk at the DFG would then affix a current “validating stamp” to the license which specified that the license was valid through December 31 of the following year (see Figures 25).
Figure 25. Validating stamps were affixed to the reverse of licenses issued to the new old age classification starting in the fall of 1959.
If a license had been previously renewed, the current validating stamp was placed over the top of the expired one. I have examined many No Fee licenses with a half-dozen or more stamps affixed.
All validating stamps were non-pictorial, serial numbered, and included a space for the clerk to write in or rubber-stamp the issue date. The stamps were die cut and featured pressure sensitive gum. All were placed on a backing material and issued in booklet panes of five (1×5) with a tab at the top. For descriptive information on validating stamps for specific years, see Table III.
Starting in 1960, the system of No Fee licenses and validating stamps was expanded to include all five classifications of no Fee license recipients (Vanderford, 1973). One type of stamp was used to validate all five classifications of licenses. Preceding the serial number on each No Fee license was a code used to differentiate the various classifications (see Figure 26 and Table IV).
Figure 26. In 1960 the validation stamp system was expanded to cover all five No Fee classifications.The red prefix “No.1” before the license number designated the recipient as old age.
Effective September 15, 1961, persons who were wards of the state residing in state institutions were entitled to receive a free fishing permit” (see Figure 27).
Figure 27. Application for free fishing permit issued to wards of the state residing in state institutions.
In 1963 the code was amended to include persons who resided in private family care (FC) homes. Section 7162 of the 1963 code reads:
“Any person who is a ward of the state and who is a patient in, and resides in, a state institution or a private home certificated under Section 6726.5 of the Welfare and Institutions Code shall be issued a fishing permit, on application therefore, by the department, in lieu of a fishing license and appropriate stamps, authorizing the taking of any fish and amphibia anywhere in this state for purposes other than profit, free of charge.”
“Such permit shall be valid only during the period of time such person is a ward of the state and residing in the state institution or licensed family care home. Certification by the person in charge of the state institution shall be sufficient proof of the person’s status as a ward and the period of time of residency in the institution or licensed family care home.”
“All persons while using such a permit shall be accompanied by an adult person except where a representative of the Department of Mental Hygiene certifies this requirement is unnecessary in a particular case.”
The No Fee permits closely resembled No Fee sport fishing licenses. They contained a box for validating stamps and could be renewed in the same manner as the licenses by “the person in charge of the state institution” (see Figure 28).
Figure 28. The no Fee permits closely resembled No Fee sport fishing licenses (left). The reverse contained special certification lines (right).
In 1965 the supply of validating stamps was exhausted late in the year (Vanderford, 1973). Current sport fishing license stamps were rubber-stamped “NO FEE” and used to validate No Fee licenses and permits for the remainder of the season. The overprint is on one line measuring 3 mm in height and 14 mm in length. All recorded examples of the 1965 provisional overprint are in black ink (see Figure 29).
Figure 29. 1965 sport fishing license stamps were overprinted “No Fee” and substituted when the supply of validating stamps was exhausted toward the end of the year.
1967 was the last year old age applicants received a validation stamp on their license (see Figure 30). Starting in 1968 the system was modified. No Fee licenses issued to the two classifications of old age recipients were no longer renewable. The license expired at the end of the year and the DFG replaced it with a new one upon receipt of a new application. Validating stamps were no longer affixed to the new No Fee licenses coded number 1 or number 5. Instead a rubber stamp was used to indicate the expiration date (see Figure 31).
Figure 30. One of the last validating stamps issued to the two old age classifications. Note the “WELFARE” stamp across the upper portion of the license.
Figure 31. Starting in 1968 a rubber-stamp (below) was used to validate the No Fee licenses issued to both old age classifications. The rubber stamp was applied to the reverse of the license.
Validating stamps continued to be used to renew the remaining No Fee licenses. Separate coded licenses were issued to the blind, disabled veterans and Indians through the beginning of 1980 (see Figure 32).
Figure 32. No Fee license issued in 1977 to an Indian recipient. Note the license has been checked and punched by a game warden in the upper right section.
Early in 1980 a single multipurpose license was substituted which contained three boxes for the clerk to mark the appropriate classification (see Figure 33).
Figure 33. A single multipurpose license was used for the blind, Indian and disabled veteran classifications during most of 1980.
The use of validating stamps was discontinued after 1980 (Vanderford, 1985). Unused copies of validating stamps are known to exist from several years. Although the DFG would not sell the stamps to collectors (Vanderford, 1973), both Oliver and Vanderford were given examples by their contacts in the Department (Oliver, 1990 and Vanderford, 1993).