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March 29, 2022 6:10 PM

Bruce Baker, a Chicago advertising exec, hit on the idea of giving away square-inch lots of land in "Sergeant Preston's Yukon," by putting deeds in boxes of Quaker Oats cereals in order to promote the cereal and a television show the company was sponsoring: Sergeant Preston of the Yukon. The Klondike Big Inch Land Promotion printed up 21 million deeds for one square inch of land in the Yukon (Dawson City) in 1955 and gave them away with the cereal. The land was real. The campaign was a sensational success. The deeds were never registerable but can now fetch up to $40 on eBay. Quaker Oats and the Canadian government still get phone calls about them. [via]
posted by jessamyn (14 comments total)

In Buffalo, NY, newspapers carried a story about a man being tried for murdering his wife with an ice pick. On the third day of trial, the defense attorney made a motion to be removed from the case. Turned out the attorney had been promised to be paid with "land in the Yukon," only to learn this "land" consisted of his client's collection of 1,000 "Big Inch" deeds.

I feel sure I read some true crime story where the criminal (among other things) insisted on using the title of Lord because they had bought that square inch of land in Scotland.
posted by Countess Elena at 6:18 PM on March 29, 2022 [4 favorites]

That the-wanderling link is a heck of a thing.
posted by zamboni at 6:54 PM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]

This quote from the Wikipedia article really sums a lot up for me: "Due to $37.20 in back taxes, the land was repossessed by the Canadian government in 1965".
posted by mollweide at 7:11 PM on March 29, 2022 [3 favorites]

There was an Uncle Scrooge comic using the same premise. They thought oil had been found
posted by Jacen at 7:17 PM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]

$40 on eBay? For $10 you can stake your very own mineral claim in the Yukon, even today — and much more than a square inch!
posted by ssg at 7:38 PM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]

My dad is/was a Tennessee Squire, which is a similar deal, where Jack Daniels sold square inch plots in Lynchburg, Tennessee. Growing up, we got records, cups and stuff from them, which was pretty cool. When I was in scouts, and we went camping in Tennessee, we'd stop by the distillery for free samples. (Lemonade, because they're located in a dry county.)
posted by Spike Glee at 7:48 PM on March 29, 2022 [1 favorite]

Previously on metafilter: Property of Hess Estate ... has never been dedicated for public purposes
posted by joeyh at 9:02 PM on March 29, 2022 [2 favorites]

Hiding from a hurricane in a small temple near Tikal, I have heard that story before.
posted by Oyéah at 9:07 PM on March 29, 2022

My dad is/was a Tennessee Squire, which is a similar deal, where Jack Daniels sold square inch plots in Lynchburg, Tennessee.

Laphroaig do the same thing with some of their Islay peat bog. I think it's "sold" in the much roomier square foot measure.
posted by Dysk at 1:49 AM on March 30, 2022

Squire is it? 20 years ago I was gifted Parcel 214, Tract 1 in the Mare Orientale on the moon. At the time, I fully intended beating the bounds, poking at the dust with my swagger-stick, and glaring at the neighbours. But then I ripped the seat of my jodhpurs in a riding accident,which was the end of that dream. Property in Mare Vaporum available now.
posted by BobTheScientist at 4:29 AM on March 30, 2022

My husband’s family were proper Tories during the revolution and were thanked with a gift of worthless, remote, mosquito-ridden, landlocked property in the northern wilds of Canada. It has no water and no particularly interesting features. Allegedly a family member flew over it once in the 1940s.

Those in the clan who have kids have dutifully kept the records on this thing current in order to “hand it down”. Has not been visited by a single living person as far as I know.
posted by kinnakeet at 6:02 AM on March 30, 2022 [3 favorites]

kinnakeet: How weird. My family got land in the most fertile ground in Canada. Lovely topsoil. They left a land full of clay and shale and poor drainage...where I live now. They were loyal to the crown as the crown had provided them a place to live their way. They were Mennonite.
posted by Goofyy at 6:41 AM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]

Green Bay Packers shareholder here: similar energy, what with the fancy but worthless stock certificate and all. The real value is the friends made along the way.
posted by carmicha at 8:24 AM on March 30, 2022 [2 favorites]

We have a man I will refer to as Laird Kintail. He is a fairly regular source of drama locally. Probably bought a square foot, helping the real owner of a castle finance repairs. Anyone who knows how the landed gentry actually works doesn’t take this stuff too seriously.
As a small child I was a huge Sergeant Preston fan. I liked the dogs. It’s one of the few things from when my father was around that I have some level of nostalgia. We ate Quaker Oats a lot. I wonder how many inches of Yukon land went into the trash from our home?
posted by Katjusa Roquette at 4:46 AM on March 31, 2022 [1 favorite]