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 and 1923. The CHICAGO brand name paid tribute to the indomitable spirit of the citizens of Chicago who had survived the great fire of 1871 and then rebuilt that city to be one of the greatest cities in the world. The “I WILL” maiden which adorns the label was symbolic of that spirit with her crown of the mythological phoenix bird rising from the flames of fire and the words “I WILL” across it. “I WILL” is still the City of Chicago’s official motto today. The “I WILL” maiden herself dates back to the 1893 World’s Fair when a contest was held by the local newspaper to select just such a symbol and a bust of the winning symbol was then commissioned for display at the World’s Fair. Less than a dozen of these CHICAGO line spools are known to have survived and in collections today thus qualifying it as a very rare tackle treasure to find.
Comments or questions may be sent to John at johnsetch@aol.com
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