The Friday Funhouse

Video of the Week

Have you ever seen a hooked fish jump while ice fishing? Me neither...



12 Things I Would Buy If Only I Could Afford Them

A set of 31 Fish Ohio pins would be a nice set for any pin collector.


The Leonard Duracane is a great later H.L. Leonard fly rod.


A red-and-white closed leg Luny Frog is a terrific find!


This Shakespeare Pig glass minnow trap is just outstanding!


The Clarke electric trolling motor is super, super rare. NOTE: It is also NOT an electric motor but a gas motor.


Who wouldn't love a vintage Winchester underwater minnow in the box?


This CCBC #700 in White Scale is amazing.


The UMCO 3060 U tackle box is having a very good day.


Who wouldn't like this Arbogast Jitterbug in orange coach dog?


You won't see another Top Sonic go like this one for some time.


Someone really wants this Hula Dancer intro box combo!


This Hendryx skeleton reel has caught fire.



As always, have a safe and happy weekend -- and be good to each other, and yourself!

-- Dr. Todd

Ben Wright's Spinning Reel Report (September 2011)

SEPTEMBER 2011

SUMMER ENDS, FALL BEGINS WITH A GREAT SELECTION OF ABU SPINNING REELS !!!

Cardinals:
3 first version Champagne exc- @ 326.78
3 first version Champagne e+wb @ 646.36
3 first version Champagne NIB @ 617.52
3 first version Champagne exc- @ 350.00
3 3rd version tan exc+ @ 403.98
3 3rd version exc- @ 182.08
4 first version Champagne exc- @ 111.25
4X EWB @ 250.46
4X NIB @ 271.00
Original 33CDL s/n GC00034 NIB @ 599.59
33 re-issue repro NIB @ 192.00
44 Express UK version exc+ @ 233.21
44X dark brown ewb @ 300.00
52 NIB @ only 105.00
55 NIB @ 189.00 wow
66 first version paint wear @ 122.50
Other ABU:
225 exc- @ 224.04
Garcia 505 SCF NIB @ 243.00wow
999 3 speed exc- @ 478.49

Dam Quick:
Super exc @ 56.00
440N nib @ 91.50

Daiwa:
Mini-spin w/special foot exc @ only 27.99
7000C nib @ 50.00

Italian:
Orvis 100 first version nib @ 69.99
RARE Orvis 100B nib @ 154.01 deal
Zangi Pelican paint wear @ 162.50
Universal exc- @ 226.98
Alcedo micron curved leg nib @ 163.50
Cargem Mignon 33 w/ matching rod both exc- @ only 82.05

Mitchell/Garcia Mitchell:
509 exc w/ matching rod @ 410.05
440 e+wb @ 137.50
410DL ewb @ 650.00
ARCA 300DL e+wb @ 1,301.24

Penn:
The reel Deal-- prototype model 710 w/green text finish never had a medallion, came from the collection of Martha Henze Egly, sold by Southbay auctions in 2003.
starting @ 399.99 NO BIDS
710 smooth black finish e+wb @ only 57.89
Penn reel thermometer ad 7.5" X 15" exc+ @ 100.00

Shakespeare:
Sigma 035 nib @ 103.50
2499 exc- @ 81.00
Pres. 11 2810 nib @ 202.51
Pres 11 2860 nib @ 102.50

Zebco:
55 CF nib @ 81.00
Standard Zero Hour Bomb Co. CF second version like new w/box @ 153.00
cardinal 7x nib @ only 98.00

Other Reels:
Preciosa listed as a Presiosa DGMA exc- @ 224.72 wow
Seamartin Mk11 Black been touched up @ 194.65
Shimano Baitrunner 3500 nib @ 110.00
kinda rare Stesco listed as Sesco exc- @ only 41.00
ever wonder where some sellers get their starting prices??
check these out--------------
Pflueger 643 Japan NIB starting @ 325.00
same as above starting @ 450.00
same as above only exc no box @ 199.95
there were NO BIDS on any of them !!
Ben

52 Trade Houses Part 26: The Legendary Eddie Bauer

Over the course of the next year, we'll be detailing the history of 52 companies that sold branded fishing tackle. 52 trade houses in 52 weeks -- some obscure, some famous, and all available exclusively here on the Fishing for History Blog! If you have any items from the week's entry you'd like to share with us, please send it my way and I'll make sure it makes it on the blog.

For a discussion of what exactly trade tackle is, Click Here. Enjoy the 52 for 52!

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Trade House Tackle, Part 26:
The Legendary Eddie Bauer
Most people know Eddie Bauer as a clothing company that competes with L.L. Bean for the "sporty" look. But there was a time when Bauer was a full service trade house that sold a bunch of marked fishing tackle.

The company was founded in 1920 as Eddie Bauer's Sport Shop in Seattle, Washington. Bauer, the son of Russian immigrants, was a dedicated outdoorsman who began the company largely as a place to string tennis racquets. Having grown up on Orcas Island, he cut his teeth in the sporting goods business by working at nearby Piper & Taft, where he learned everything from rodmaking to gunsmithing to tying flies.


Bauer (1899-1986) as a young man.
Very early on the firm was a success, in part because he offered an unconditional guarantee of satisfaction beginning in 1922. He renamed the store Eddie Bauer's Sporting Goods in 1924, and began offering his famous line of Bauer hunting and fishing clothing in 1936.


Bauer in front of his store in 1924
An interesting fact about Bauer is that during World War II, he manufacture over 25,000 flight suits and 250,000 down sleeping bags for the Army Air Corp to use in the Aleutian Islands campaign. All of these items contained the Eddie Bauer label on them, and it is believed these were the only war production items manufactured for the government to carry the maker's name. The most famous, of course, were the B-9 Flight Parkas, known as the Bomber Jacket.


The Bauer store in 1942.
In 1945, Bauer began mail order catalogs, which helped vault the firm to national prominence. In 1953, Eddie brought in William F. Niemi as a 50-50 partner, and when he retired in 1968 he sold out his shares to Niemi, who incorporated that year as Eddie Bauer, Inc. Niemi then turned around and sold the company to General Mills, Inc. in 1971, who held the firm until 1988 when it was purchased by the German mail order company Spiegel, Inc.

Today, most people know Eddie Bauer for its fly fishing tackle, and the company still maintains a presence even today in the field. But the company sold a full line of fishing tackle beginning in 1924 (he sold his own tied flies before this), and some of it was branded with their name. An especially neat product was the Eddie Bauer R-6 Salmon Plug, manufactured for them by Rosegard. These are really rare and valuable lures and sell for good money when they come to market.


Of course, the firm also sold a lot of rods and reels. Here's a neat marked Eddie Bauer 8' fiberglass fly rod manufactured by the great J. Kennedy Fisher company of California.


There are a lot of other marked Bauer tackle items. Early flies on cards are sometimes found, and some of these would have been tied by Eddie Bauer himself. Occasionally an Eddie Bauer fly reel will be found in an original box. And sometimes items like the Mepps Killer 6-Pack pictured below will be found bearing the Bauer name.


Today, the company is worth nearly $2 billion and has stores in every state in the union. It is a true monolithic enterprise, but it started as just another tackle shop founded by a Russian immigrant's son selling flies and tackle to the Seattle sporting set. We should celebrate Eddie Bauer's continued success!

-- Dr. Todd

Voices from the Past: Chauncey Depew (1901)

Chauncey Depew was a famous business and political icon of the late nineteenth century. Formerly Cornelius Vanderbilt's personal attorney, he was later named president of the N.Y. Central Railroad and was a two-term U.S. Senator from the state of New York from 1899 to 1911. As a resident of Peekskill he was also an angler of note, and related this interesting story which was widely reproduced ca. 1900.



A Salmon Story

My fish story is a remarkable one. For many years my numerous fish friends have honored me by sending me their first salmon catch of the season. It began fully ten years ago from a dinner speech of mine when I requested all the guests to send me a big fish in the spring. That year, by a preconcerted action, they managed to deliver all the fish on the same day, and my house was filled with them.

Now, if you approach my home any pleasant day in the late spring, you will see a messenger boy struggling under the weight of a pail of ice. "What have you got there, my little man?" you ask.

"Oh, a big salmon packed in ice for Mr. Depew," he will answer. Sometimes I have counted twenty messenger boys distributed along the road from my country house to the station. And my cellar is overflowing with cracked ice and salmon. Of course, I send a few to my neighbors, and the rest I have pickled, and mighty good it is that way. But the most pleasing part of my fishing experience comes in when I meet the people who have sent the fish. "Your salmon was the finest I ever in my life tasted," is what I invariably say to each and every one.

-- Dr. Todd

News of the Week: 26 September 2011

Don't have time to read 50+ fishing and tackle collecting blogs and web sites? Well, let us do it for you! Follow all of the latest news, articles, and stories on our Whitefishpress Twitter account! Hint: You don't need to be a member...just bookmark the Twitter Feed Page or click on latest links to the right!

Hunting for saltwater lures…national hunting and fishing day…deadliest lures for barria…Bass Pro Shops gets investigated by the EEOC…David and Goliath clash in the fishing world…U.S. hosts World Carp Championships…a huge musky from Greece…Joe Cermele on back hooking suckers…Martha's Vineyard Derby dq's two big fish…fly fishing for Colorado trout…a record tuna on the fly…it must be THE NEWS OF THE WEEK!

The Big Lead: The Lure of the Hunt (for Saltwater Lures).


Enjoying national hunting and fishing day.

Deadly lures for barra.


Joe Cermele on butt hooking suckers.


Bad times for Bass Pro Shops, as they face allegations from the EEOC over hiring complaints.

U.S. Carp Angling World Championships begin.

Patience is the virtue in fishing for trout.


Greece man lands huge musky.



An anonymous fish story?

The Derby disqualifies two big fish.


Why fly fishing for Colorado trout is beautiful.

A record breaking Yellowfin Tuna on the fly.



Finishing with a Flourish: A fishing story of David and Goliath.

-- Dr. Todd

1000 Words

1000 Words

Today we feature a classic ca. 1890s photo of a child with a long collapsible fishing net.



-- Dr. Todd

Deconstructing Old Ads: Al Foss (1916)

Al Foss 1916
 
1916 is the generally accepted date for Al Foss's introduction as a commercial producer of fishing lures. The first advertisement presented here comes from the May 1916 issue of National Sportsman and has to be one of Al's earliest efforts. It featuring the only two baits that Foss started with; the Skidder and the Little Egypt Wiggler. As we have mentioned before Al Foss was a famous and highly regarded tournament caster and it seems that he, as well as other tournament casters that went into the lure business, usually started with small, often metal, baits, that were easy to cast due to their weight and little air resistance. Examples: Fred Arbogast, William Stanley, Tony Accetta, Lloyd J Tooley etc.

Al Foss was a different sort of person and his personality was reflected over the years in his advertising. I find myself laughing at many of his ads as they contain everyday language that one does not often see in formal advertising. Lines such as "makes them strike on general principles" and waters that are "fished to a frazzle."  In addition to many large, often full page, advertisements, Al seems to have struck up a deal with most editors that if he placed a large ad in their magazine, they would also place a small (often one sentence) ad in the same issue as space would permit. These smaller ads often reflect Al's sense of humor. As an illustration of the early occurrence of this phenomenon, the following two are presented here. The first from the June 1916 issue of National Sportsman (compliments of Jerry Martin) and the second from the July 1916 issue of Outdoor Life. You can't make these things up.






-- Bill Sonnett

Friday Funhouse

Video of the Week

Don't forget to check out the Fishing For History Fishing Video Tumblr Archive where all the videos we've ever posted are stored!

This is a wonderful vintage video from the International Game Fishing Association (IGFA) vault about 1950s tarpon fishing. 



12 Things I Would Buy If Only I Could Afford Them

This is a very early, and rare, fiberglass rod with matching reel from Phantom of Kansas City.


The Pflueger Supreme 2600 baitcaster is a rare reel, and a nifty find.


They don't come much prettier than this Paulson minnow in the box.


A vintage Victorian salmon fly tying kit has the fly guys going insane.


It's all about the color, folks. This Lucky 13 Spook in Yellow Shore is a super rare combo.


South Bend Musky Minnows don't get as much respect as others, but they were a nicely made bait.


A pair of ocean jigs have set eBay on fire.


We don't feature many Paw Paw lures around here, but this Musky mouse is a nice bait.


An Orvis 50A in the box is a great find.


You don't see a Heddon Mark 3200 in the box very often at all…



Silk fly line is wonderful, especially in an original six pack.


This Fin Dingo by Ropher in the box is a neat plastic lure.


As always, have a great and a safe weekend and be good to each other, and yourself!

-- Dr. Todd

Thursday Review: The Sep. 2011 NFLCC Gazette

Thursday Review: The Sep. 2011 NFLCC Gazette

Today the mail brought the latest NFLCC Gazette. Let me start by giving an apology -- I've gotten more than a few emails from people asking where the "Profiles in Collecting" column went. I have not forsaken it. I was just late getting it in due to circumstances beyond my control. I promise to have a new profile next issue!

The magazine itself featured a lot of great photos about the NFLCC Nationals in Louisville.

Other articles included a neat photo essay from Terry McBurney on "The Best 45 Minute Lure Auction Ever," a report on an auction that featured some staggering baits.

Chris Olson of Wisconsin gave us what is hopefully the first in a series on Illinois baits, with "The Flirty Girtie" about a nifty metal lure made in the land of Lincoln.

Jack Looney offered us another wonderful "Field Find" story, the fifth of six of his great writings. There is only one Jack Looney!

Colby Sorrells offers yet another well-researched and written article in "2,915,258: The 33 and the Thomas Edison of Fishing." It is about R.D. Hull, inventor of the Zebco, and it's just a flat out terrific article. Well done, Colby!

Dan Basore ended the issue with details about our newest honorary members. They are Al and Ron Lindner, of In-Fisherman fame but who made a neat musky bait that caught a lot of fish. The second is Dan Gapen, famed tackle maker. Kudos to the committee for picking a trio of Minnesotans!

Another fine issue. The Gazette is ably edited by Jim Fleming down in Music City and more information about the NFLCC can be found by Clicking Here.

-- Dr. Todd

52 Trade Houses Part 25: Holiday Stores of Minnesota

Over the course of the next year, we'll be detailing the history of 52 companies that sold branded fishing tackle. 52 trade houses in 52 weeks -- some obscure, some famous, and all available exclusively here on the Fishing for History Blog! If you have any items from the week's entry you'd like to share with us, please send it my way and I'll make sure it makes it on the blog.

For a discussion of what exactly trade tackle is, Click Here. Enjoy the 52 for 52!

o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o - o

Trade House Tackle, Part 25:
Holiday Stores of Minnesota

Another Minnesota-based company that sold a great deal of fishing tackle was the Minneapolis-based Holiday Companies. Founded in 1928, it was originally an auto parts chain that, like so many other similar companies, eventually expanded into sporting goods and then fishing tackle.



Holiday Sports began in the early 1960s as "part of the Minneapolis-based Holiday Stores, an innovative group of retail stores that combined a wide selection of groceries and merchandise into one superstore. The concept had significant name recognition and was perceived as a low-price, limited-service operator with breadth and depth in product lines. Holiday was recognized as a leader in hunting and fishing equipment, offering a selection that was among the largest in the Twin Cities area. Holiday operated four freestanding Holiday Sports stores in addition to a number of other retail operations." Thus read a financial report issued by Gander Mountain, a company that Holiday eventually bought out.

Eventually there were a large number of Holiday outlets, all of them selling Holiday branded fishing tackle. Most of the packaging has the words "Manufactured for Holiday Stores, Minneapolis, MN 55431" somewhere on the package.

Everything from hooks to rods were branded with the distinctive Holiday logo. Here are a pair of representative line spools, both monofilament spools.


1960s Holiday mono spool.

1970s Holiday mono spool.

The most commonly found marked Holiday tackle are the fishing reels. There must be two dozen or more different Holiday models, and here are some representative examples.

Fly reels were popular in the Holiday line:



A Medalist style fly reel made in Japan.



A Holiday automatic fly reel and box, also made in Japan.

Bait casters and level winds were also popular. Here's a saltwater Holiday reel.


A Holiday 1182 surf casting reel.

Spincasters are perhaps the most easily found. Here is one of their most popular models.



A Holiday spin cast reel.

Ben Wright lists four different styles of spinning reels, from an ultra light to a large saltwater model.

Holiday Stores also sold a lot of fishing lures. I own a nice three-pack of Japanese-made River Runt clones, and I've seen everything from Rapala knock offs to Daredevle imitations. While not all Holiday tackle was imported, most of it was.

Holiday Stores is still around today. One of their branches--Holiday Stationstores--has over 100 stores across ten states, and the parent company still has a presence in the sporting goods world. In 1995, Holiday Stores purchased a small chain of sporting goods stores in the Twin Cities called Burger Brothers, and then in 1996 Gander Mountain (a Wisconsin chain store) was purchased by Holiday, who then rebranded all their existing Holiday Sports Stores as Gander Mountains and relaunched the chain in 1997. Today, the only Holiday store converted to Gander Mountain that still exists is in Fridley, Minnesota.

Holiday sold a lot of branded fishing tackle and although most of it is in the mid-to-lower end of the tackle scale, it is still a fun post-war trade house who's tackle is colorful and affordable to all collectors.

-- Dr. Todd