Vintage fishing license badges

[Mike N]

My son Eddie and I like to collect pin-back fishing license badges from any state, but particularly from our native West Virginia. From 1934 to 1940, the Mountain State issued fishing/hunting licenses in badge form. Licenses were sold for a particular district or statewide.

We have a total of 70 WV licenses from those 7 years but the rarest [see bottom photo] are a two 1935 Statewide Resident “Female Hunting & Fishing” licenses; a 1936 Resident Female Hunting & Fishing license (grey); a 1937 Resident Female Hunting & Fishing license; a 1939 Non-Resident Tourist “Fishing Only” license (bronze); and a 1940 Non-Resident Tourist “Fishing Only” (red) license. These are all over 80 years old now.

Except for the year 1934, each badge has a completed paper license inserted with the name and address and vital statistics of each licensee, and best of all, the applicant’s occupation.

Please feel free to post any you have.

[Mike N]

As you can imagine the paper licenses that have been folded in a tiny square for 80+ years are very fragile and I’ve only opened a handful. The tiny clear celluloid “window” is the most frail. West Virginia has 55 counties and you had to go to a county courthouse (not a Walmart) to get your license, a prodigious trip in some of the larger rural counties during that period.

Here are a few I did examine. A 1939 license for a 30-year-old male who listed his occupation as “farmer.”



I opened two of the female licenses. While the male license fee was $2, the women’s fee was only $1.
Neither the 20 year old nor the 25 year old female licensee listed any occupation.

[kyreels]

Nice looking badges and interesting ephemera. My Kentucky licenses and hoop net tags are not so pretty. Mostly we find just the paper and it is hard to display. But I do have one item that is unique, the GH McKinney Fish Trap and Bucket hang tag. It is a patented trap, and I have only seen one of them. If anyone finds one, let me know. Anyway, it doesn't really belong with the licenses.

[Deepfins791]

Here's a few good ones. Note the father and son licenses are consecutively numbered. They must have went to Sears, together.

[Mike N]

Whoa, the Kovalovsky licenses and I885 fish trap medallion are very, very cool. Thanks for posting.

Mike

[Mike N]

One category of pin backs I really like, are dated early sportsman’s and rod & club annual membership badges.

This 1941 badge meticulously typed from Wampum, PA is my favorite. The rectangular design is rare.



Some of the other early, Classic rod & gun club pin backs are shown here:

[Mike N]

Here are a few of our out-of-state licenses.



My favorite is this 1932 Michigan non-resident fishing license. The pocket on the reverse is empty, but I’m not sure if it ever held a paper license like the WV badges, where the paper was less accessible.

[Mike N]

The backs of some of the badges (which were protected from UV light) are sometimes as interesting as the front, as shown in this 1921 New York hunting and trapping license.

[stumpstalker]

Nice collections and VERY neat stuff!

Important detail, that, about the dated club membership badges.

[Paul Roberts]

Interesting. Especially having the licenses within.

“Complexion” is curious. I’m trying to think of possible options. How descriptive they might be would be highly dependent on the vocabulary of the writer as well as conventions of the day. I believe I made out the last one as “freckled”?

[Mike N]

Interesting. Especially having the licenses within.

“Complexion” is curious. I’m trying to think of possible options. How descriptive they might be would be highly dependent on the vocabulary of the writer as well as conventions of the day. I believe I made out the last one as “freckled”?

I believe it says “Fair,” not freckled, but point well-taken.

Mike N.