Does anybody else remember buying "One Square Inch Of Land In Alaska" for 25 cents?

[fuzzybuddy]

When I was about 8/9, my dad gave me a quarter to get him a pack of cigarettes from the little store at the end of the street. (Today, they' throw him in jail for "child abuse".) At the store, I happened to see this legal looking paper, it was a deed for one square inch of land in Alaska. It actually had the coordinates for your 1 square inch. Well, I figured land was a better deal than cigarettes. So, I bought it. Later, when I became a smoker, I saw the error of my ways. I had that deed for a long time.
Does anybody else remember the Alaska land deals for 25 cents? Anybody know how legal that was- 1 square inch for 25 cents?
The deed was something like this..........

 

[RadishRose]

Cool beans, do you still have it?

 

[Gaer]

Hahahahahaha! Yes, i remember that!

 

[Kaila]

I don't remember that, but it's very funny!

Plus, I want to know if your Dad ever offered to take you there, so you could see your 1 inch?


It does look very official, so it must be, @fuzzybuddy
(OR, was this posted by your twin? )

 

[jerry old]

there was a thread of getting an inch of Alaskan land that came
in a container of Puffed Wheat.

 

[Kaila]

How many inches did you buy, @jerry old ?

 

[jerry old]

The offer escaped my awareness. I was a kid, parents did the shopping. Also, the Puffed Wheat was more expensive that
the other brands.

 

[Kaila]

It was fun just to look at the boxes, back in those times.

 

[ancientmariner]

I think my deed was thrown out when both my parents had passed. But here is the ad.

 

[oldman]

I do remember that. I also remember buying savings bond stamps for a dime each.

 

[JaniceM]

I'd never heard of that one, but I do recall my Aunt had bought a ticket for a 'trip to the moon' back in the 1950s when such things were actually being sold.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

My dad had the deed for a long time. I don't think it still exists. I doubt my dad, who was having nicotine withdrawal, was happy being an Alaskan land baron. We lived in Massachusetts
I did some math. There are 6,272,640 square inches in one acre. At 25¢ per square inch= $1,568160.00. Not a bad profit.

 

[fuzzybuddy]

I don't remember that, but it's very funny!


It does look very official, so it must be, @fuzzybuddy
(OR, was this posted by your twin? )

If things get posted and no one gets arrested, I posted it. Otherwise, it was my evil twin.

 

[eivanomym]

I do remember that. I was about to tell my grown kids that story but could not remember the details. I thought it was a fund raising effort by the private school I was attending as a kid. It is true what you say. I've read and heard of people (kids) from that era wondering if there was a way to find out if their name was attached to an inch somewhere or if that info could be found out. Those were the days !

 

[hawkdon]

I 'member this too...had not thought of it in a long time...also
my father got in on a deal of 1 acre in arizona or new mexico,
held onto that deed for many many years...finally made a good
sum of money on that acre when some developer wanted it....

 

[Murrmurr]

Someone gave me a similar thing years ago; some whiskey brand selling one foot of land for a dollar or something. Was it Johnny Walker??

 

[Fyrefox]

More recently and perhaps even to this day, some company is offering to sell you land on the moon. Going to inspect and claim your land would be another matter as the moon is international territory. I think they've upped the ante as you can now "buy" land on Mars...

 

[martin]

I also have some recollections of the cereal box top bonanza for getting a deed to one square inch of North Pole. But my recollection is that we got the square inch from the Quaker Oats promotional offer for the property in the Yukon of Canada, which I think we had 3 inches that were not contiguous so no one could get enough to put a structure on. I recall my father laughing that he needed at least four to put pilings on. When we drove to Alaska in 1960 he joked about looking for the land which was repossessed for back taxes in 1965.

 

[Disgustedman]

I remember buying stamps for $0.25 every Friday at elementary school. Man. Mom was furious I did that. She dragged me to the post office, cashed out my stamps, dragged me home complaining about me spending money like that

I was just wanting to save and help my country.

The stamps have been sold primarily in schools since World War 11, but have also been available at post offices. They come in denominations from 10 cents to $5. When $18.75 worth are pasted in a special album, they can be ex changed for a savings bond re deemable for $25 in five years and 10 months.

About $60‐million in stamps have never been exchanged for bonds. These can he exchanged for hondc until June 30. After that when the stamps will no longer be sold, partly complet ed albums may be applied to ward the purchase of savings bonds or redeemed for cash at post offices.

 

[Indiana Joe]

When I was about 8/9, my dad gave me a quarter to get him a pack of cigarettes from the little store at the end of the street. (Today, they' throw him in jail for "child abuse".) At the store, I happened to see this legal looking paper, it was a deed for one square inch of land in Alaska. It actually had the coordinates for your 1 square inch. Well, I figured land was a better deal than cigarettes. So, I bought it. Later, when I became a smoker, I saw the error of my ways. I had that deed for a long time.
Does anybody else remember the Alaska land deals for 25 cents? Anybody know how legal that was- 1 square inch for 25 cents?
The deed was something like this..........
View attachment 106692

That's like that nonsense today of paying to name a star after someone as a gift.

 

[ronaldj]

no but I got a free one square inch in Arkansas, with a Black Oak Arkansas record.