I recently used the last of some “Forever” postage stamps I bought years ago. They honored various abstract artists, including some I’d never heard of. One set was of a 1929 painting by Arthur Dove titled Fog Horns. When I saw them, I knew I’d be saving them for special occasions. To me, they looked like an embarrassing part of the human anatomy, and I thought they’d be a great passive-aggressive way to take a dig at an incompetent business or person.
Last week I was billed for a doctor visit that supposedly took place over a year ago. I spent an hour looking through my check register and appointment calendar to see if it was legitimate, and it was. That wasn’t really a big surprise, because this practice has a history of losing or misplacing paperwork. I wrote them a check, dropped it in an envelope and stuck on my last Fog Horns stamp. Take that, jerks.
An article at ideelart.com titled 7 Times Abstract Art and Artists Were Featured on US Stamps tells us that Fog Horns “…features three spectral forms suggestive of soundwaves created by the horns of ships lost in the fog.” Aha, soundwaves. I see.
Sadly, the Fog Horns stamp is no longer issued.