Tight Lines Tuesday Fred Arbogast Tight Lines Tuesday by John Etchieson – Fred Arbogast made fishing line too – Among the collectors of antique and collectible fishing tackle the name Fred Arbogast is well known. Fred Arbogast was one of the true pioneers of the fishing lure industry. As with so many who enter the […]
Category Archives: Tight Lines Tuesday
Tight Lines Tuesday TH Chubb by John Etchieson 133 years ago in 1886 this very rare and beautiful russet colored silk line wrapped on a cardboard line winder and packaged inside this blue, tan, and gold leaf bordered box marked ‘OUR “SPECIAL” BRAND OILED SILK BLACK BASS LINE’ was introduced and sold by the Thos. […]
Tight Lines Tuesday The Mermaid Brand by John Etchieson The Mermaid Brand braided silk fishing lines, introduced about 100 years ago, were manufactured by the Newton Line Company of Homer New York (est. 1909) who advertised these high grade silk casting lines with the simple marketing slogan – “Mermaid bought – big ones caught” This […]
Tight Lines Tuesday The Pelican Brand by John Etchieson The Pelican Brand – H. J. Frost & Company was a jobber and wholesaler of all types of fishing tackle in New York, City in the early 1900 – 1920 period and sold under the name Jack Frost Tackle, using the trade marks KELSO, SENATE, ANCHOR […]
Tight Lines Tuesday Win-Oreno by John Etchieson This very rare Win-Oreno brand Irish Linen Cuttyhunk line coiled on a card, is not found in any of the company’s customer retail catalogs but was found featured in the 1935 South Bend Bait Company Dealers’ catalog. It was illustrated with a leaping bass taking a South Bend […]
Tight Lines Tuesday Hercules Tight Lines Tuesday Hercules; This 100+ year old Shakespeare Indian Silk Casting Line branded the HERCULES was introduced in 1909 and produced with this colorful lithographic label for just one year, thus making it one of the most difficult to find and one of the very rarest of Shakespeare’s antique fishing […]
Tight Lines Tuesday Warner Winner by John Etchieson Tight Lines Tuesday Warner Winner; More than 80 years ago in 1937 this attractively labeled WARNER WINNER brand silk casting line was sold by the Warner’s Hardware store located at 13 South 6th street in Minneapolis Minnesota. Warner Hardware was founded by Frank R. Warner in 1875 […]
Tight Lines Tuesday Chicago I Will Maiden by John Etchieson CHICAGO “I WILL” MAIDEN; 104 years ago this month in 1914 the William Shakespeare Jr. Company offered this CHICAGO brand fishing line in its new 1915 fishing season tackle catalog. The line was one of the famous “Indian silk” lines that Shakespeare produced between 1909 […]
Tight Lines Tuesday Simmons by John Etchieson Tight Lines Tuesday Simmons; Edward Campbell Simmons (1839 – 1920) founded the famous and nationally successful St. Louis based Simmons Hardware Company (1874 – 1940) and began offering fishing tackle in their catalogs at least as early as 1879. Simmons had a U S Patent and Trademark Office […]
Tight Lines Tuesday Extra Strong by John Etchieson Tight Lines Tuesday Extra Strong; 91 years ago in 1927 the G H Mansfield Company (EST. 1821) of Canton Massachusetts produced this EXTRA STRONG brand of Japan silk casting line that was designed to take the strongest of the fighting Musky fish. To convey the great strength […]
Tight Lines Tuesday Biltwell by John Etchieson Tight Lines Tuesday Biltwell; 91 years ago in 1927 the G. H. Mansfield Company (est. 1821) offered the BILTWELL brand silk bait casting line with an attractive label featuring one of America’s dreadnought battleships that were easily recognizable due to their two lattice masts, sometimes called “cage masts”, […]
Tight Lines Tuesday Italian Brand by John Etchieson Tight Lines Tuesday Italian Brand; 96 years ago in the Spring of 1922, the author, artist, angler and hunter, William Harnden Foster, painted a wonderful scene of a fly fisherman who had crawled to the edge of the bank above the water to avoid spooking this trout […]
Tight Lines Tuesday Shakespeare Dollar Dandy by John Etchieson Tight Lines Tuesday Shakespeare Dollar Dandy – 85 years ago, in 1933, the Shakespeare Tackle Company introduced its Dollar Dandy fishing line to fishermen facing the adverse economic effects of America’s Great Depression. “We’re in the Money” is a song from the 1933 Warner Bros. film […]
Tight Lines Tuesday G H Mansfield & Co by John Etchieson The firm of G H Mansfield & Co. of Canton Massachusetts had already been producing some of the best hard braided silk fishing lines for 10 years when America celebrated the Centennial International Exhibition of 1876. This historic event, (the first official World’s Fair […]
Tight Lines Tuesday Vee Bee by John Etchieson Vee Bee – The Voedisch Brothers Company (circa 1904 – 1974) was a Chicago based wholesale and retail distributor of fishing tackle including both lures and lines sold under the “Vee – Bee” brand name. The DAISY silk casting line was offered for sale from the early […]
Tight Lines Tuesday Bear Brand by John Etchieson Tight Lines Tuesday Bear Brand; Curtis P Brown, administrator of the estate of Howard C. Brown, doing business as The Brown Silk Braid Company, of East Hampton Connecticut introduced the short lived (1931 – 1932) BEAR BRAND silk and linen fishing lines in the pages of the […]
Tight Lines Tuesday Seminole by John Etchieson Tight Lines Tuesday Seminole; This “SEMINOLE” brand silk fishing line manufactured in 1929 by the G H Mansfield company (1866 – 933) honors both the Seminole tribe of Florida and the memory of Chief Tiger Tail aka Thlocklo Tustenuggee (1790 – 1882) a native American Indian who was […]
Tight Lines Tuesday Firestone’s Treasures In this episode of Tight Lines Tuesday Firestone’s Treasures, John Etchison thells us; In the 1930s and 1940s the Firestone Tire Company of Akron Ohio sold a lot more than just tires. Their tire and auto supply stores also carried everything from radios and appliances to sporting goods too. Among […]
Tight Lines Tuesday Kingfisher Introduces Color by John Etchieson Tight Lines Tuesday Kingfisher Introduces Color; Kingfisher Introduces Color – 108 years ago in 1910 the E J Martin’s Sons company of Rockville Connecticut introduced color into the bird image and labels of their famous Kingfisher brand of silk fishing lines for the first time sine […]