Deconstructing Old Ads: "I'll take one of those 2103's"

"I'll take one of those 2103's"


It always amazes me when a lure company brings out a new lure and does not give it a name. Can you imagine going into the local hardware or bait shop and saying, "do you have any of those new 2103's?" The Moonlight bait Co. seemed to do this more than others, especially toward the end of that firm's life as the Moonlight bait Co, before being sold around 1927 to the Paw Paw Bait Co. My guess is that unless you are talking to a Moonlight collector, most folks at a lure meet would not have the faintest idea what lure you were talking about. In this case collectors sometimes refer to this bait as the “Little Wonder.” I'm not sure if this name was added later by Moonlight or Paw Paw, but there is no hint of it in this May 1925 ad in Outdoor Recreation Magazine.

-- Bill Sonnett