Harkauf Jacob Mick Rotary Head Lure
This Harkauf Jacob Mick Rotary Head Lure is a lure I thought I’d share due to some of the great input and responses I got from the Manhattan post. I had also received some great info from Terry Oxley, author and collector of Rotary Head Lures.
Looking through Terry’s Book, I learned a lot, the book is titled “Rotary Head Lures” which can be ordered through Dr. Todd and Whitefish Press via the link in the name above. Please support these authors, and purchase these books, who for the price of a few pizzas have given you knowledge that has taken untold costs and decades to amass.
After sharing both lures with Terry He Writes: “ I would be inclined to call the one in the purple box a Harkauf. This lure is exactly the type they made, and they were known for selling lures to other companies for resale. This is probably one of those lures, and unless there are other markings on the box I’m not sure there will ever be a way to tell which company sold it. That is a really neat different trade box label though.
Collector Bill Sonnet writes about the relationship between Harkauf and Jacob Mick on page 58 of his book entitled “Deconstructing Old Ads Vol II” . This work can also be purchased from Whitefish Press and the link inside the book title name.
Bill was kind enough to send me this copy of the Jacob Mick Ad as well as an Original Jacob Mick “The Patterson” box. Bill adds;
The hardest boxes to find are the earliest ones that Jacob Mick sold himself under the name “the Patterson” for Patterson New Jersey where he lived. Recently someone found a Patterson box and put a picture on Joe’s. There are very few Patterson boxes known. I have never seen a Patterson Underwater box. First is 1905 ad for Jacob Mick next an original Jacob Mick Patterson box that was over-labeled with a Manhattan label. Next is a March 1922 S J Meyers ad from Sporting goods Journal with both baits pictured from photographs still showing the staple and split ring hardware. Last The Manhattan Underwater with original box.
You Can View the S.J. Meyer Manhattan Post Here: S.J. Meyer Manhattan Lure
I received this box and bait from a visitor of the oldfishinglure web site years ago from a gentleman from New Jersey. The lure comes in a period type non descriptive purple box. This purple box looks very similar in nature to the Empire City shown in Terry’s book. However, the purple used is almost the same purple used on many boxes from Harkauf, to the Otter, to many of the other trade type boxes shown. Purple appears to have been a popular color. The box having just a plain end label to describe its contents “Top Water Bait No. 2 White”.
Inside the box is a rotary head lure that fits the exact description of the early Harkauf / Jacob Mick lures. Using staple rigging to secure the standard treble hooks with a split ring. The lure seems to have a chalky type texture indicative to some of these pre 1915 lures rotary heads. The head being equal in size to the most forward section of the rear half of the cigar tapered wooden lure. This antique lure measures in around 2 3/4″ in length. The props on the lure although circular in design are bent forward on an upward axis to help the lure upon retrieval. The antique lure seems to fit the same criteria of the first series of Harkauf/Mick lures dating to the early teens if not a smidge earlier.
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Harkauf Jacob Mick Rotary Head Lure Photo Gallery
