Booby Heads? Plimptons

I've come across a page which is titled Booby Heads. When I googled it, it took me to coins, but no real explanation either. Can anyone elaborate? They are part of a large group of Plimpton's from 1874-1879. I don't know if it refers to a specific denomination or die cut and Scott isn't very helpful. TIA


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bfranton

What is shown is Die 64 (in the US Postal Stationery catalog and Thorpe-Bartels catalog) or Die U50 (in Scott Specialty).

In Thorpe Bartels, it states that die 64 it is an exceedingly large head... (also called the "booby-head").

Other than the Thorpe-Bartels reference I saw nothing else.

Apparently, it was just a nickname for the die.

The term "booby" means dunce or stupid. If you look at the "booby heads" they do look to be the head of someone suffering from a very large head which in the days of Plimpton indicated a stupid person. A large head was considered a sign of mongolism, an obsolete medical term. The term mongolism has been replaced by the term Down syndrome in today's parlance.

Perhaps booby head should have been mongoloid head? Just doesn't have the same cachet to it.

Are you sure it was mongolism and not Mongoloid? It derives from the skin fold near the eye that gives a somewhat oriental look.

I think the term "Mongoloid" is no longer considered PC. Even more PC than Mongolism is Trisomy 23.

I guess both terms are from the pre PC era, but I never heard the term mongolism before.

I will steer clear of any present-day commentary and instead look only at the historical philatelic references:

Specifically, the earliest Scott world-wide catalog I have handy is from 1896:



The numbering system for the envelopes has changed over time, but note the overall comment about the Plimpton series: "The profiles ... are mostly poor, and are wretched imitations of the fine engravings of the Reay issue", AND then near the bottom of the first column, the 10 cent die A is described as "Booby Head" (and the 12 cent die as "Face idiotic. Crooked nose.")

The "Booby Head" description continued for more than 4 decades, through 1939, and the "Face idiotic" description through at least 1949..

So it is not unexpected to find this label in an older collection.

To add a definition from the era, from my grandmother's 1920 Webster's dictionary:

'Allo 'Allo!

Listen very carefully. I shall only say 'sis wonce.'




In the UK, it means something very different. Reading the title was quite amusing.

Warning: commenting in this thread is a potential booby trap.

Here are some actual boobies:

Blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos:




Brown booby from the Caribbean seen in New Jersey thanks to a hurricane:



I do see a vague resemblance to the the heads that started this thread.