Deconstructing Old Ads: Rattle-Rattle

Rattle-Rattle

Today's ad comes from the 1940 Sports Afield Fishing Annual. Having an almost complete collection of Sports Afield Fishing annuals I can attest that this is one of the few that does not identify the Fishing Annual as a coming from Sports Afield though this omission is corrected at the top of every inside page of the publication.



Today's ad appears on the inside cover and is an ad for the earliest lure that I am aware of that is made to “rattle”. This got me to thinking about the popularity today of lures with a built in rattle. My first exposure to such a lure was, I believe, in the very early 1970's when a neighbor expounded on the success she was having with a lure called the “Racket Shad”. It probably did not occur to lure makers to make a rattling bait before the advent of hollow plastic plugs. The Millsite rattlebug must have been popular as they were eventually made in many different colors than those featured in this ad and are a popular bait to color collect today. By the way they still catch fish.



-- Bill Sonnett