UPDATE: More on the Evans Weed Queen/Neptune by Chuck Julian

UPDATES FROM CHUCK JULIAN:

Chuck has continued his research and writes:

I spoke with Bob Evans today.  He said that his father never spoke of the lure business to him.  He said that he had a lot of them around the house but didn't realize that his father made them.  E.S. Evans and Sons was started by Edward Steptoe Evans and his two sons, Robert B. Evans and Edward S. Evans II. Bob says that he remembers that his father bought Richardson Rod and Reel and he personally had something to do with that. E.S. Evans and Sons was primarily in the business of making auto hauling railroad cars. Bob said that Evans Walton was another of their companies.

Definitely verifies what I found. Chuck also discovered that the Evans Products Company was a successful wood products maker. The following blurb is from a history of the firm written by Steve Greif:

The company founder, Edward Steptoe Evans, was a self-made man who had worked as a printer, a store clerk, a cowhand, a librarian, and an author when finally, at age 35, he developed a product that made him a fortune.  In 1915, he created the "Evans Block," a small wooden device that made loading and shipping automobiles by rail more efficient.  Evans' involvement in the car industry led him naturally to produce another product for the auto: battery separators. Dozens of thin shields were needed to separate the numerous positive and negative plates inside storage batteries while allowing for the flow of the battery acids. Evans' research and development personnel found that Port Orford cedar was an ideal material for these separators...

With the onset of World War II, battery separators for military vehicles, tanks, and submarines were in high demand, and the Coos Bay plant produced over 500 million separators in 1942 alone. The heyday of operations was in the early 1950s when over 1,000 laborers with an annual payroll of over three million dollars found work at the Coos Bay plant.

Even during the Great Depression, Evans had hundreds of women workers in an industry that was traditionally male. Known as "Lumber Jinneys" (a spin-off of the familiar term "Lumber Jack"), these women predated the familiar "Rosie the Riveter" by at least a decade.

The Evans Company had a reputation for innovation and diversification. Besides battery separators, they produced railroad ties, fence posts, and broom sticks in the 1930s. They were also the leading producer of high quality Port Orford cedar Venetian blinds.

Upon his father's death in 1945, Edward S. Evans, Jr., headed the company and continued with new product lines. In response to the need for post-war housing, the Evans Company manufactured lumber for pre-fabricated homes. Using 3500 feet of fir lumber for framing, wall panels, cupboards, and shelves, the company claimed it could complete an "Evans House" on a poured foundation in forty-eight hours.

By the 1950s, the company was an important producer of plywood. It developed wooden stadium seats that were installed in the newly constructed Marshfield High School gym, and made high quality wooden furniture. One author claims that the term "wood products" came into common use in the 1940s and '50s as a result of the company's prominence.

The Evans Products Company plant closed its doors in Coos Bay in the spring of 1962. Newspaper editorials at the time speculated the closure was due to the growing scarcity of Port Orford cedar, increased foreign competition, and the creation of other materials that replaced traditional wood products. After a failed attempt to restart the business, the city of Coos Bay burned the old Evans buildings in 1965. A section of Highway 101 near the old plant site was designated Evans Boulevard, one of the few reminders of this once important Coos Bay business.

Thanks, Chuck! The search continues...

-- Dr. Todd

Unraveling the Evans Weed Queen/Neptune by Chuck Julian

Unraveling the Evans Weed Queen/Neptune by Chuck Julian

Recently Chuck Julian posted this great information about the Evans Weed Queen on Joe's Board. Unfortunately, it scrolled off the board into oblivion, so I asked Chuck if it was possible to repost it here on Fishing for History. He was kind enough to agree, so here is his post, along with some information I found to flesh out the Weed Queen a bit more.

I have discovered a little bit about the Evans Weed Queen that you might find interesting. Inside the package is a patent number (1994168) for the lure and the name E.S. Evans and Sons, 259 Vinewood, Detroit, Michigan.


The patent was taken out by John Boyko of Hamtrack, Michigan,
 an enclave of Detroit (the patent can be viewed online). Mr. Boyko also has several other patents to his name that mostly deal with latching mechanisms for power conveyors, such as the type used in assembly lines. One of those was assigned to the Jervis B. Webb Company of Detroit.

Mr. Boyko assigned 1/2 of the Automatic Fishing Lure patent to 
Wadah Koury (I have found nothing about him). The patent was applied for in 1934 and granted in 1935.

The Evans Weed Queen was manufactured by the E.S. Evans and Sons Co. of Detroit. One of the Evans sons was Robert B. Evans. Mr. Evans was a business investor and also an inventor. From what I could see, none of his inventions ever made it but he did assign one (a windshield wiper heater) to E.S. Evans and Sons. He is reputed to say that he was in the business of making failing companies into profitable ones (NY Times obituary).

He was also known as an avid sportsman. In 1965, the then millionaire Evans became American Motors Corporation's largest stock holder and was elected chairman of the board in 1967. Mr. Evans changed the direction of the company and had them develop the Javelin, AMX, Pacer and other innovative vehicles. He said that the company should not be following the other auto companies but developing its own product.

At some point in time, E.S.Evans and Sons must have obtained the patent for the lure and named it the Evans Weed Queen. I don't know if the Evans Walton Company was involved. I don't know if they purchased a company that owned the patent, if they just purchased the patent or merely paid Mr. Boyko and Mr. Koury a royalty.


Evans Weed Queen sold recently on eBay for $260.00 by Robbie Pavey of the Mr. Lure Box Web Site.

On the slip of paper in a Weed Queen lure box, the printed name for the company is E.S. Evans and Sons but that piece of paper is also stamped on the back with Evans-Walton Co. Clearly, they were a successor to E.S. Evans and Sons in the sales of these lures. The only thing that I found on them was an old ad for paint repair tape.  If you had a scratch in your car paint, you could put this tape of the same color on top of the scratch.  It is likely another of the Evans' Family businesses.  I am not able to figure out how to look those old businesses up in a registry somewhere.  I have sent requests to Wayne County but have not had any reply.  They might not keep info that far back.



The Weed Queen is a spring-loaded bait. Here is is in both open and closed position.
I don't know how Neptune Bait figures into the mix. I have tried contacting John Boyko Jr. and Robert B. Evans Jr. to
 see what they know. Neither has replied. I am pretty sure I have the right Evans but not sure on Boyko.


Carded Neptune baits.
I corresponded with Rob Pavey who says that Kingfisher did not have a spring loaded mechanical lure in their catalog and that they were a brand name of the Edward Tryon Co. of Philadelphia. He says that they only sold other peoples baits under their brand name and didn't manufacture anything.

The Neptune Bait lures that I have are wood with glass eyes on top of a steel frame. In the book, Made In Michigan Fishing Lures II, by George Richey, Mr. Richey says that the lures were first made by the Neptune Bait Co in the late '20s or early '30s. After several changes, the lures became the Evans Weed Queen. Mr. Richey emphasizes that Neptune came first. If he is right, the Evans family may have purchased the Neptune Bait Company, closed it and then started manufacturing the lure with their own company, renaming it and better packaging it. That is just speculation on my part.

I spoke to George's brother David Richey, as George has passed away. David said that he didn't know any of the details but said that if George said it in the book, he had good reason. David said that George didn't like to speculate. He only printed what he was convinced was true and that he was a pretty thorough researcher.

Rob Pavey says that he disagrees with George. He says that the card and graphics on the Neptune card are consistent with 1950s era printing, not 1920s/30s but also says that this is just his opinion. He does say that he thinks that, "they are cool baits regardless of which decade they were made."

NOTE FROM DR. TODD

Thanks, Claude, as this is all very interesting!

I can add just a few details to the article. The magazine Motor Age declares that the Evans-Walton Co. was formed in 1935 to "handle the manufacture and sale of products developed by E.S. Evans & Sons," which gives us a hard date for the name change. R.B. Evans was President and Thomas R. Walton was named Vice-President of the new firm, located at 243 West Congress Street. Thus the new firm was a subsidiary of the older Evans & Sons company. By 1937, the firm was receiving patent protection for a new "siccative coating for metal surfaces." By the end of World War II it had morphed into the Evans Manufacturing Company.

John Boyko of Hamtrack (later Baseline and Detroit), Michigan was later an engineer and executive for the John Boyko Engineering Company who served on the Board of Directors for the Christian Business Men's Committee and the Detroit Bible Institute. Of interest is that he also played quarterback for both Notre Dame and Michigan State in the 1920s.


This 1958 newspaper blurb details Boyko's successful career.
All I could find on Wadah Koury was that he was born in 1906 in Lebanon (one of five children) and died in 1987, having lived most of his life in Detroit, Michigan. Perhaps he was an employee or co-worker of Boyko's.

Like Rob Pavey, I also believe the Neptune post-dated the Evans Weed Queen (it certainly could NOT have been a product of the 1920s as the patent was not applied for until 1934). Neptune Bait Co. was listed at 6870 East Davison in Detroit (an address later used by the Rickard Manufacturing Co.). I believe, however, they are ca. 1940. I do not know how the Weed Queen changed hands, but I am betting it is an interesting story.

Anyone with anything else to add?

-- Dr. Todd