miscellaneous antique fishing lures

Howe's Vacuum Bait, Manchester, Ind. Patented in 1909 and sold for the first year or two in a wonderful black pasteboard box, the Howe's Vacuum Bass Bait is an early classic. The lure featured "swiveling hooks" and were made of wood. The color papers have wonderful early graphics. This baby Vacuum is the No. 23 Red Spotted. It is mint in its original box, and was acquired from a visitor to this website.
Howe's Vacuum Bass Bait The inventor of this wonderful lure switched to a handsome hinged tin box after the first few years of production. The tin boxes are about 50 times more common than the cardboard version pictured above, but are nonetheless very desirable. South Bend Bait Co. later acquired the rights to this bait and offered it in their catalogs through the 1920s.
Hungry Jack, Lloyd & Co., Chicago This is one of the classics of the early 1930s and is the only bait known that has four glass eyes! Designed to imitate a fish eating a fish, this Chicago-made Hungry Jack lure includes cleverly illustrated and worded papers. The rear lure is "Hungry" and its frightened prey is "Jack." It was acquired from a visitor to this website, and is one of my favorites! Lloyd & Company is now defunct.

Jack's Rip-L-Lure, Oklahoma This well-made, cup-rigged wooden Rip-L-Lure lure was manufactured by Jack's Tackle of Oklahoma City, Okla., in the mid-1940s. The lure has a wire armature in the nose that allows the flexible metal bill to move to and fro. These lures are beautiful, and the picture box has great graphic appeal.
Jacobs Polly Frog, Vicksburg, Mich. E.L. Jacobs of Vicksburg, Michigan made the Polly Frog in the late 30s and early 1940s, along with other nice baits including the Jacobs Hoss Fly or Jacobs Horse Fly. The Jacobs Polly Frog is wooden and came in several sizes. The Jacobs Hoss Fly is the rarest one and I will pay dearly for a boxed example to add to this collection.
Jim Dandy Fish Bait, Chicago Manufactured around 1915 by Wise Sportsman Supply Company, this interesting Jim Dandy Fish Bait plug includes wire armatures around the hooks that prevent the barbs from scratching the lure. The picture box is hard to find. Most Jim Dandys are in red and white finish. Solid white ones also turn up.
Jim Dandy Single Spinner This circa 1917 box is quite rare, as the Jim Dandy Single Spinner lure was very short-lived. The intriguing wooden lure consists of a propeller like contraption mounted on a shaft. Like the bait above, it was manufactured by Wise Sportsman Supply Co. of Chicago. Note the elaborate work required to shape this bait. No wonder they weren't around very long.
Jim Dandy Double Spinner This box, unfortunately, is empty, but I'd sure like to find a lure and some paperwork to fill it. This is basically the Jim Dandy Double Spinner version of the lure pictured on the box above - yet another neat product of the mysterious Wise Sportsman Supply Company that we know very little about.
Johnson Automatic Striker Minnow Chicago Johnsons are neat plugs from the 1930s that were made in four sizes, and featured an elaborate spring mechanism to insure the fish would be caught. The inventor, Carl Johnson, patented the invention in 1935. Johnson Automatic Striker Minnow plugs came in three sizes.
K & K Animated Minnow, Ohio The K & K Animated Minnow made by K & K Manufacturing Co. was an early jointed lure patented in 1907 by this obscure Toledo, Ohio company. The K & K Animated Minnow was also sold by William Read & Sons of Boston. K & K Animated Minnow paint jobs were poor, so they're usually found with cracking and peeling enamel. The picture boxes are rare indeed, and also come in a maroon version.
Kauth Chubby Minnow, Illinois This glass-eyed, solid pyralin lure resembles the L&S Mirro Lure but is older. Bill Kauth of Stream Line Products in Meadows, Ill, sold Chubby Minnow lures in the 30s and 40s. The paperwork says they had been made by Kauth 25 years before this example was sold during WWII. The "fighting fish" on the boxtop is one of my favorite "cartoon" boxes.
Keller Weedless Surface Bait, Illinois This cumbersome lure was made by James Keller of Willamette, Ill., in the 1930s. The tall, maroon box has an applied label. I'm unaware of any other lures by this maker, although this Keller Weedless Surface bait resembles the Comstock Chunk Bait.
Ken's Shiner, Colon, Michigan This late 30s/early 40s lure was made by Ken Miller of Colon, Michigan. Ken's Shiner appears to be a Paw Paw Bait Co. product, or predecessor. Note that this lure has cup hardware, while most Paw Paw Shiners have surface rigs. This green box is unusual; other Ken's Shiner boxes are actually over-labeled Paw Paw Lucky Lures boxes.
Ketchall Wobbler, Chicago This late-teens Ketchall Wobbler was made by the U.S. Athletic Co. Chicago and packaged in an exquisite maroon picture box. The lure body is identical to the Bite-Em Wiggler, leading us to believe Bite-Em acquired this lure and incorporated them into their line of baits. Unlike the later Bite-Em lures, this Ketchall has cup hardware and no lip.
Ketchum Frog Gang, Portage, Wis. This cruel device was patented in 1904 by W.R. Ketchum and was made to troll a live frog. The side panel has an interesting jingle: "A fisherman may fish and a fisherman may lie. What a fisherman can't Ketch a fisherman may buy. No need to lie or buy if you use Ketchum's Patent Frame Gang. " Ketchum also made a wood minnow.