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 colorful and eye-catching label image of a mermaid taking a leaping fish with her silk line and landing net was used throughout the 1920s and into the early part of the 1930s. While these were manufactured in rather large numbers for more than a decade, very few survive today and are highly sought after by the collectors of antique mermaid related advertising as well as antique fishing tackle.