Page of 126E. L. Vanderford: 1913-1994by David R. Torre, ARAIntroductionFish and game philately lost one of its most prominent collectors during September of 1994. Elmore Vanderford passed away in his sleep at his long-time residence in Sacramento California. Known better as E. L. Vanderford or simply “Van” in philatelic circles, he had suffered from a variety of illnesses in recent years, including a chronic heart condition and asthma. These robbed him of much of his energy and time. For this reason he recently was unable to keep up the voluminous correspondence that had maintained faithfully for over 30 years. Although alternating between good days and bad, he was able to derive a great deal of enjoyment and personal satisfaction from the fish and game renaissance of the 1990s. For this, the author will be forever grateful.Van started to collect stamps in 1922, at age nine. The following year he bought his first hunting license and began a lifelong pursuit of duck hunting (see Figure 1a). When California issued it’s first (now legendary) “BOY” hunting licenses in 1928, Van was the right age to qualify. Van’s carefully preserved, unfolded license is the finest recorded used example of this rare fish and game artifact (see Figure 1b). FIGURE 1A. AT AGE 10, VAN BOUGHT HIS FIRST CALIFORNIA HUNTING LICENSE. FIGURE 1B. AT AGE 15, VAN RECEIVED ONE OF THE SHORT-LIVED BOY HUNTING LICENSES.Page of 226It seems natural that one day his two great passions would become inextricably combined in the form of fish and game stamp collecting. For many years Van was a general collector of U.S. and British stamps. Eventually, he became interested in U.S. revenue stamps and joined the American Revenue Association. Through the ARA, he made contact with Frank Applegate and Bert Hubbard. Applegate and Hubbard were the two most influential state revenue dealers on the west coast. Applegate was one of the first dealers to specialize in fish and game stamps (see Figure 3a and b). FIGURE 3A. FRANK APPLEGATE WAS ONE OF THE FIRST STAMP DEALERS TO SPECIALIZE IN FISH AND GAME STAMPS. TWO ADS APPLEGATE RAN IN PHILATELIC PUBLICATIONS ARE SHOWN HERE AND IN THE ILLUSTRATION BELOW.Page of 326 FIGURE 3B. ENLARGEMENT OF APPLEGATE’S AD SUGGESTING COLLECTORS ADD OTHER FISH AND GAME STAMPS TO THEIR FEDERAL DUCK STAMPS – AND THAT IS WHAT VAN AND CHOSE TO DO.Page of 426Applegate and Hubbard introduced Van to state revenues, which at the time included the Kansas quail stamps and Virginia big game, National Forest and elk stamps. Being an avid hunter, Van immediately took a keen interest in the hunting license stamps and he began to buy these from them for his fledgling collection.Three of Van’s earliest hunting stamp purchases turned out to be rarities over time. It is believed that the 1938-39 Virginia National Forest stamps that were issued to hunters were serial numbered (as all used copies on or off license are numbered). Most of the stamps surviving today are likely unused remainders as they lack the number. In 1940, Kansas printed and issued their quail stamps as single stamp booklet panes with a tab at the left. They ran out of stamps at the end of the season and sold a small number of stamps to hunters and collectors from a proof sheet of ten. Van was fortunate to acquire this variety, probably from dealer Frank Applegate. The Virginia elk was one of my favorite stamps in his collection. It is unusually well centered and has huge margins (see Figure 4a, b and c). FIGURE 4A. UNUSED NUMBERED 1938-39 VIRGINIA NATIONAL FOREST. FIGURE 4B. 1939-40 KANSAS QUAIL FROM PROOF SHEET OF TEN. FIGURE 4C. 1946-47 VIRGINIA RESIDENT ELK.Page of 526Collecting Fish and Game StampsElmore’s wife, Jane, shared in her husband’s hobbies. She hunted ducks, loved to fish and also had a topical collection of fish stamps. In 1948 Michigan issued the first pictorial fishing stamps in the U.S. Van, having learned of these stamps and thinking they would make a nice gift for his wife, began to buy one for her each year directly from the state agency (see Figure 5). Van grew to like the fishing stamps himself and soon developed an interest in collecting fish and game stamps in general. It was not long before he was more involved in them than Jane was. FIGURE 5. THE EXACT STAMP THAT VAN GAVE HIS WIFE JANE IN 1948. THIS BEAUTIFUL MICHIGAN TROUT STAMP INSPIRED VAN TO MOVE PAST COLLECTING JUST HUNTING STAMPS.Page of 626He began a practice of purchasing at least one or two examples of each stamp from various conservation agencies while they were still valid. This meant paying full face value. However, Van knew that (for various reasons) occasionally there were no remainders made available to collectors at a reduced fee following the season. As he learned of increasing numbers of state and local governments that issued stamps, he took on a series of “ordering partners” to help him with this task. Were it not for Van and his ordering partners, examples of many of the rarer fish and game stamps would not exist today—especially in unused condition (see Figure 6a, b and c). FIGURE 6A. IN THE CASE OF THE 1963 CROW CREEK SMALL GAME STAMP, NOT EVEN ANOTHER USED EXAMPLE HAS BEEN RECORDED IN OVER 50 YEARS. FIGURE 6B. 1966 MARION COUNTY DUCK. VAN PURCHASED THE ONLY UNUSED EXAMPLE FOR 50 CENTS DURING THE SEASON. FIGURE 6C. 1970-71 MONTANA NR BIRD. $25.00 MUST HAVE HURT IN 1971.I Page of 726n the 1950s Van began to correspond with other collectors which he contacted through The American Revenuer. These included John Bobo, Charles Herman, Joseph Janousek, Morton Dean Joyce and John Theil. These pioneer collectors enjoyed sharing information and trading stamps among themselves. All the while, Van was becoming more infatuated with the hobby—and more knowledgeable. The thing that appealed to him the most was the “thrill of the hunt” for new and elusive items. Joseph Janousek in particular would have a big influence on Van’s life (see Figure 7). FIGURE 7. JOSEPH JANOUSEK WAS A KEY FIGURE IN VAN’S LIFE.Page of 826In April of 1959, Joseph Janousek started writing a regular column in The American Revenuer. In his column, Janousek attempted to list all of the fish and game stamps that had been issued up until that time. This was a significant event in Van’s life for two reasons. First, Janousek enlisted the assistance of several fellow collectors, including Van. This had the effect of getting Van more involved in organized philately. Second, and far more important, it would later serve as the inspiration for Van to compile his own Handbook of Fish and Game Stamps – essentially an update of Janousek’s work and the accomplishment that Van is most remembered for in philatelic circles (see Figure 8). FIGURE 8. JANOUSEK’S WORK SERVED AS THE INSPIRATION FOR VAN.Page of 926Getting Involved With the SRS NewsletterThe State Revenue Society began publication of the SRS Newsletter in 1959. The newsletter always contained a great deal of information about fish and game stamps due in part to the fact that many SRS members (including editor David C. Strock) were interested in these stamps. Although Van did not contribute original articles in the beginning, many issues of the newsletter contained his additions and corrections to articles and news releases which had previously appeared. Van was becoming recognized by revenue collectors as an authority in the fish and game field (see Figure 9). FIGURE 9. TYPICAL OF THE SMALL PIECES OF FISH AND GAME INFORMATION VAN SHARED WITH COLLECTORS THROUGH THE STATE REVENUE NEWSLETTER BEFORE EMBARKING ON HIS LIFE’S WORK, THE HANDBOOK OF FISH AND GAME STAMPS.In the early 1960s Joseph Janousek passed away and Van helped his wife sell the collection he had formed. Van was able to add several major rarities to his own growing collection at this time. Most notable were the 1956 Delaware non-resident trout stamp (see Figure 10) and the Puerto Rico hunting license and validation stamp dating from the 1950s (see Figure 11). Both items were the only recorded examples and had been written up by Janousek in his State Game Hunting and Fishing Revenue Stamps column which was published in The American Revenuer.Next >