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A LITTLE HISTORY ON THE 6TH (1939-40) DUCK STAMP ARTIST

Lynn Bogue Hunt's time started in 1878 about 15 miles south of Rochester, New York in Honeoye Falls.  When he was about 12, he went to Albion , Michigan where his grandmother lived.  There, he continued to maintain a strong interest in the study and drawing of wildlife.  He also developed his early "skills" as a taxidermist and made his first money stuffing hawks, ducks, owls and pet parrots.  Even at a young age, he showed an ardent interest in hunting and fishing, an interest which he was to maintain all his life.

After three years in college, Mr. Hunt was hired as staff artist at the Detroit Free Press.  At the same time, he began sending wildlife artwork to various national magazines in New York.  He met with some success in this endeavor and consequently moved to New York to try his luck in the city.  He continued to sell more an more of his work. Soon, he attracted the attention of arms and ammunition manufacturers who began buying his paintings to use in advertisements.  Besides Field and Stream, magazines that used his work were: The Saturday Evening Post, Delineator, Natural History, Colliers, Better Homes an Gardens, Woman's Home Companion, Boy's Life, American, The Garden Magazine, Country Gentleman, and Elks Magazine.

Mr. Hunt still found time, however, to keep up his hunting and fishing.  He traveled along the Atlantic coast from Nova Scotia to Cuba. He often went out with fishermen, taking along his palette and brushes, to capture the vivid colors of fish before they faded.  Although his own travels provided rich material for his art, he received help from many friends who were active in the world of fishing, exploring, and big game hunting.  Frequently they would add to his store of research matter by bringing him photographs also acknowledged his debt  to the American Museum of Natural History which allowed him to use many of its resources.

In 1936, Mr. Hunt published a book of bird paintings and drawings entitled An Artist's Game Bag.  He illustrated A Book on Duck Shooting by Van Campen Heilner, American Big Game Fishing published by Derrydale Press, Atlantic Game Fishing by S. Kip Farrington, American Neighbors of the Countryside by Joseph Wharton Lippincott, An American Hunter by Archibald Rutledge, and two books by Ray Holland.

Despite his widespread success, one of his most prized possessions was a small painting of fluffy chick that he kept on the wall of his New York studio.  He gave credit for his love of painting and of the outdoors to his mother, who had done the painting before he was born.  Mr. Hunt died in Williston Park, Long Island, New York on October 13, 1960

---------------THE ART---------------

Green-winged Teal was originally drawn in graphite pencil. The print was pulled from a lithograph stone.  Printed on white paper using brownish black ink. The prints were pencil signed and some were numbered but without a total.  The print image size is 7 3/4"x11".

---------------THE STAMP---------------

Green-winged Teal.....Engraved by Federal Bureau of Engraving from the original artwork.  Printed in chocolate brown ink.  The stamp sold for one dollar.   Postal records show 1,111,561 stamps sold.  First day of sale was July 1, 1939.

Most of the information contained above is from the book Federal Duck Stamp Story, Fifty Years of Excellence, by Laurence F. Jonson; Alexander & Co.  It is used here with permission from the author. For more information on this book, please click here.