The Thrill of the Hunt Country Living June 2016

The Thrill of the Hunt Country Living June 2016

Thrill of the Hunt speaks volumes to many of us collectors, either in spirit or in dedication. Whether its that crazed passion that wakes us up in the morning 4 hours early to get to be first in line at the estate sale or travel 5 counties away to an auction on just a hunch. As a dedicated antique fishing lure or reel fanatic, don’t say the thought or reality has never crossed your mind of researching the past owners of sporting goods stores to trace down their nearest living relative, to see if they might have old stock. Most of us collectors are borderline hoarders, hunters and historians that really will go to many great lengths and expenses to add pieces to our collections. We as collectors have been known to travel thousands of miles and brave all sorts of environmental conditions, rain, sleet , snow and hail to be the first in line.

Well Mr or Mrs  Antique Lure or Reel Collector there is a different kind of line this month that you need to look in to see some of those items that we covet. Yep, you guessed it, the grocery line……Say What??? Country Living Magazine’s June 2016 issue expounds upon it’s regular series of articles themed around finding collectibles, antiques a various treasures. The “Thrill of the Hunt” is wonderfully written by a enthusiastic assistant editor who uses her zest for life and youthful spark to seek out our treasures we covet and put into print some of these hidden away items.

When Mark and I first received the the email at our other site www.oldfishinglure.com from Laurren, her explaining who she was and what she needed, it gave me great pause. I thought at first she was just asking for permission to use some photos or give credits for an article. This happens all the time when you run a rather large hobby site for over a decade. What I wasn’t prepared for was, someone asking Mark and I to pack up our prized possessions to which some have taken decades to assemble and put them in a box and mail them to someone I had never met. I thought to myself, is this a trick, I hurriedly thought through a list of my friends that would take a joke or worse to its next conclusion. I reverse researched her name, phone, email, the address, her history and even her IP address which set my mind to ease. Call me eccentric or excessive but most would take the same precautions before you sent off your kids to a new school or on a vacation with another friends parents.

While on the phone with Laurren, her recanting a journey she made to visit a collector who collected yard tools that dated back to the 16th century it made me secure in that my own antique fishing addiction wasn’t that far over the top. I carefully wrapped them up and on a brief vacation to Alabama the Antique Lures and Reels went. Laurren and I spoke multiple times before they left in a reinforced cardboard box for their trip. We covered things like how they would be used, who would handle them, how they would be packed and received, and most importantly how to repack them to have the best odds at getting home the same. I find it quite amusing that these things have bounced around in tackle boxes, been hung on the attic or barn rafters, exposed to 100 years if environmental conditions and my biggest fear is them riding properly packed in a padded box covered in toilet paper and bubble wrap a few states away. All my expectations were met and the care to which she gave them was no less then top notch. Laurren went to great efforts to care for and to keep me in the loop as to which process they were from her receipt to her returning them to their home and cases. Thank you for treating them as if they were your own.

So the old saying goes, “every dog has its day”, or “everyone get 15 minutes of fame”,  some of these antique lures and reels have waited over a century for theirs. I hope that the article may spur at least a few to get into, or research this great hobby, its clubs and all its wonderful collectors. We as collectors are just caretakers for these items and with it comes our duties to tell their stories and history to make sure that those who come next can enjoy the “Thrill of the Hunt” as much as we do.