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Early Miscellanious Lure Companies
Aside from the five major fishing lure manufacturers mentioned on the previous page, there were countless other lure mfg. companies producing very interesting early fishing baits for over a century and a half. These are classified as Miscellaneous lures because there are so many examples, and there were only a few variations produced by each company. These antique lures are very popular among collectors. Some examples of these fabulous old lures and their boxes are shown on these pages.
I am always looking for old lures or boxes to add to these collections.
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Fred Arbogast / Akron, Ohio
It is believed that the Arbogast Company began in 1926 and is still in business today. The earliest baits were made of metal and most had glass eyes, although there are exceptions. Many of them sported the name "Tin Liz" and they are very popular among lure collectors today. Some of these were the Tin Liz, Big Tin Liz, Sunfish Tin Liz, Tin Liz Walleye, Tin Liz Snake, as well as the Spin-Tail Kicker, and the Weedless Kicker. These lures were small and petite and were distributed in small and very attractive yellow picture boxes. The most famous of his lures was a top-water bait known as the Jitterbug, and to this day is still a very successful surface lure among bass fisherman. The earliest Jitterbug models were made of wood, and went through many changes over the years. Fred Arbogast is also noted for inventing the "Hula Skirt" which is still used today. Some examples of these lures are pictured below.
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Arbogast Weedless Kicker and Box. / c. 1931
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Arbogast Sunfish Tin Liz. / c. 1932
Arbogast World War 2 Plastic Lip Jitterbug / c. 1944
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Arbogast Tin Liz and Box. / c. 1930
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A.F. Bingenheimer/Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Bing's Nemahbin Minnows can be traced back to 1905. These fascinating old baits are some of my personal favorites among the early fishing lures. I am only aware of two styles which include the Bing's "Tripod" and the Weedless Minnow. Of the later, I know of a few different variations as far as body and hardware style, but all sport the famous Bing's Weedless Treble Hooks and Gem Clip hook hangers. A see a distinct similarity to some of the early Shakespeare Minnows. Examples of both models are pictured below.
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Bing's Weedless Nemahbin Minnow. / c. 1910
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Bing's Nemahbin Tripod Minnows. / c. 1905
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Bings Nemahbin Tripod Minnows / c. 1905
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George W. Bolton / Detroit Michigan
To my knowledge, the A-B-C Minnows and the A-B-C Spoon are the only lures stemming from this early Michigan lure company. George Bolton patented his minnow in 1923 and there are two models known. It is unknown to me how long they were manufactured. The patent drawing shows the glass eyed model, although the other known model has no eyes. They both came with a color assortment of interchangeble back sections. It is hard to say which model is the earliest. Examples of this curious company are shown below.
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A-B-C Minnow. / c. 1923
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A-B-C Spoon and Box. / c. 1923
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Charmer Minnow Company / Springfield, Missouri
The Charmer Minnow Company first patented these unique lures in 1910. A few different obscure varieties do exist, although they are very scarce. Some of these include the Musky sized Charmer and the Half-Charmer.
Constructed with cedar bodies and german silver hardware, these are favorites among many early antique lure collectors. The unique "Barber Pole" paint patterns have probably "charmed" more lure collectors than they did fish. They are one of my personal favorite old lures by far. Some nice examples and boxes are shown below.
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Charmer Minnow. / c. 1910
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Charmer Minnow. / c. 1910
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Charmer Minnow and Box. / c. 1910
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Charmer Minnow. / c. 1910
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Charmer Minnow. / c. 1910
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Surface Charmer. / c. 1910
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Charmer Minnow and Box. / c. 1910
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Charmer Minnow. / c. 1910
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Immell Bait Company / Blair, Wisconsin
C.J Frost / Stevens Point, Wisconsin
A short lived and very important old lure company is the Immell Bait Company from Blair, Wisconsin. They came into existence around 1910 and are not known to have lasted more than a decade. This company is famous for the Chippewa Minnow which came in three varieties (Bass, Pike, and two Musky sizes, both floating and sinking). The unique patented inner-body spinner as well as their overall character and appeal has made them one of the top favorites among collectors. As with some other early lures of this period, the paint is very fragile and they are often cracked or chipped, as priming was less than perfect. It seems that at some point during their production years, they made arrangments with The C.J. Frost company to make the Skipper Minnow. Any of these lures are hard to find in nice condition and are very desirable among collectors. A few examples of these interesting lures and their boxes are shown below.
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Chippewa Pike Minnow and Box. / c. 1913
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Chippewa Bass Minnow. / c. 1913
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Chippewa Skipper. C.J. Frost. / c. 1915
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Chippewa Bass Minnow. / c. 1913
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Chippewa Bass Minnow and Box. / c. 1913
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Chippewa Pike Minnow. / c. 1913
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Chippewa Musky Minnow. / c. 1913
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Chippewa Pike Minnow / c. 1913
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Chippewa Musky Minnow. / c. 1913
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Chippewa Bass Minnow. / c. 1913
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Clark Brothers Mfg. Company / LaPorte, Indiana
Very little is known of this small, and very obscure old lure company from LaPorte, Indiana. It is believed that production started around 1930, and patents were granted in 1932. How long they were in existence is anybody's guess, but probably not very long as examples are very scarce. One thing that I have found in handling some of them is that some of the crackleback examples seemed very susceptible to heat damage, as the varnish was soft (similar to Biff Baits), and the paint had blistered and peeled away. They are very attractive and very rare old lures, and one found in the box in nice condition can certainly be considered a prize. Some examples of these fascinating early lures are shown below.
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Clark's Makes-Em-Bite and Box. / c. 1930
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A nice display of Clark's Makes-Em-Bite Lures. / c. 1930
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Clark's Makes-Em-Bite and Rare Box. / c. 1930
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F.E. Comstock / Valparaiso, Indiana
Wheeler-Lunbeck Manufacturing Company
Another early Indiana Lure company is the Wheeler-Lunbeck Co. from Valparaiso, Indiana. It's roots in the lure industry can be traced to 1923 and patent was granted for the Weedless Chunk Bait in 1926. This lure has 2 collapsible hooks and an unmistakable elongated lead belly keel, which distinguish it from other chunk baits that were produced in later years by other companies. Another lure manufactured by this company is a small aluminum bait called the Pelican Weedless Pork Rind Bait which was developed sometime in the mid 30's. Although this company only produced lures for a short span of time, they are still considered a very significant piece of our lure history, especially among Indiana antique lure collectors. Some examples of this very curious old fishing lure and it's box are shown below.
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Pelican Weedless Pork Rind Bait. / c. 1934
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Comstock Chunk Bait and Box. / c. 1926
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Comstock Chunk Bait, Box, and Papers. / c. 1926
Early Proto-Type Chunk Bait purchased from the F.E.Comstock family. / c. 1923
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Comstock Chunk Bait and Box. / c. 1926
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Comstock Chunk Bait in Rare Luminous Color. / c. 1926
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J.L. Clark Manufacturing Company / Rockford, Illinois
J.L. Clark started producing his Expert Minnows sometime around 1907 and continued until around 1914 when Fred Keeling took the Expert Minnows to the next level. They are arguably the most elegant of all the Expert Minnows, and they are most easily recognized by there long sweeping gill marks that are reversed and face backwards toward the nose. There are a lot of mysteries concerning the transition of the family of Expert Minnows, and with that said, there is not a lot of information I can add at this time. Some examples of these beautiful lures are shown below.
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Clark 5-hook Expert Minnow. / c. 1907
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Clark 5-hook Expert Minnow. / c. 1907
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Clark "Baby" Expert Minnow. / c. 1907
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Clark 3-hook Expert Minnow. / c. 1907
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Clark 3-hook Expert Minnow. / c.1907
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Coldwater / Eureka Bait Company / Coldwater, Michigan
Samuel O. Larrabee and Willis E. Phinney, both of Coldwater Michigan, became connected at some point between 1914 and 1917 to form this lure company, hence the connection between Eureka and Coldwater. The Eureka Wiggler was the first lure introduced in 1913 and patent granted in 1914 with patent granted to Larrabee. Later patents were granted to both men (It gets confusing). It is unknown to me how long the company stayed in business, but to my knowledge, it was into the 30's. They produced a fascinating line of fishing lures including the Eureka Wiggler, Coldwater Finch, Coldwater Weedless, Coldwater King, Hell Diver, and the Coldwater Ghost. Some examples of these lures are shown below.
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Coldwater Hell Diver. / c. 1918
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Coldwater Hell Diver. / c. 1918
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Coldwater Hell Diver. / c. 1918
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Coldwater King. / c. 1917
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Coldwater Ghost. / c. 1925
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Coldwater Finch. / c. 1914
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Eureka/Coldwater Wiggler. / c. 1914
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Carter's Bestever Bait Company / Indianapolis, Indiana
and American Display Company / Dayton, Ohio
Thomas J. Carter patented his first fishing lure in 1924, although it is known that he was making lures several years prior to that. Years later in 1932, Milton S. Dunkelberger obtained the patent rights to Carter's lures and purchased the company. During this time all lures were sold under the American Display Company name. For a period of time they were called Carters-Dunks, and then just Dunks after the buy out. The earliest Carter lures had no eyes. Dunk's created quite a few odd looking lures including Carter's Mouse and Craw, Dunk's Craw, the Surface Twin, Double-Header, Dunk's Shore Minnow, Dunk's Pike Bait, Dunk's Dunkit, and the Swim-A-Lure among others. I am not sure of the longevity of this company, but it seems it lasted until sometime in the 1940's. It is also worth noting that several other smaller Indiana fishing lure companies used this lure body style on their baits in later years, so patents must have changed hands. A couple of examples are the"Old Black Joe", (also the name that was dubbed to Carter's early lure), and the Sutphin's Darter to name a few. These later examples were made of plastic. Some of the Carters and Dunks lures and boxes are shown below.
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Carter's Pike and Box. / c. 1933
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Dunk's Dunkit and Box. / c. 1933
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Carter's Old Black Joe and Box. / c. 1933
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Carter's Bestever and Box. / c. 1924
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T & M Darby / Whiting, Indiana
A short lived early lure company from Northwest Indiana dating to some time in the mid to late 1930's. Although most boxes that are found are labeled Whiting, Indiana, some over-labeled boxes are found with a Franklin Park, Illinois address. This is the only type of lure that this small company manufactured. It is a very interesting wood lure with a rotating head and spring-loaded hooks that would snap open when a fish struck it. Up until several years ago, most were found in poor condition, as the paint became fragile, and when the hooks were sprung with an explosive snap, the paint would fall off. But since that time, the "mother load" was discovered from the estate and somewhat flooded the market. They have since dried up into collectors hands and are becoming quite scarce again. Some examples of these very interesting rotary head lures are shown below.
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Darby Spin Head Weedless and Box. / c. 1937
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Baby Darby Spin Head Bait (bottom). / c. 1937
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Darby Spin Head Weedless and Box. / c. 1937
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Ans. B. Decker Company / Lake Hopatcong, New Jersey
Anson B. Decker started making his lures around 1907 and continued throughout the 1930's. He lived and operated from his shop on Lake Hopatcong in New Jersey. These antique lures are made of wood and can be considered what is commonly called rotary head lures among lure collectors. The head will spin when pulled through the water, and are commonly found with three single hooks attached, as New Jersey fishing laws only permitted three hook points per fish lure. He also designed and manufactured two other minnow type propellered lures known as the Decker Topwater and the Decker Underwater Minnows which are rather scarce and difficult to find. Decker lures are easily confused with other lures made of the same nature during that same time period and earlier. Some examples of Decker's old fishing lures and their boxes can be seen below.
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Decker Underwater and Unknown (right). / c. 1910
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Decker Top Water Casting Bait and Grand Prize Box. / c. 1908
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Decker Top Water Casting Bait and Box. / c. 1908
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Decker Top Water Casting Bait and Box. / c. 1908
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Decker Underwater Bait. / c. 1910
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Detroit Bait Company / Detroit Michigan
It is believed that The Detroit Bait Company came to existence around 1903 and there is not much information about them. This company produced some very archaic looking three and five hook minnows. These minnows are found in two variations with some being stamped North Channel and others stamped Delevan. I am unsure of the connection. The characteristic trait of these early lures is the gold speckled large protruding glass eyes. This is a very desirable lure among antique lure collectors and their boxes are very hard to find and considered rare. Some examples of these unique early minnows are shown below.
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North Channel or Delevan 3-hook Minnow. / c. 1903
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North Channel 5-hook Minnow. / c. 1903
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North Channel or Delevan 3-hook Minnow. / c. 1903
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Jim Donaly Baits / Bloomfield, New Jersey
James Donaly was officially marketing fishing lures in 1912 and is believed to have been making lures prior to that. Not his earliest lure, but probably his most recognized is the "WOW", which is in fact the lure that James Heddon and Sons later fashioned their famous "Crazy Crawler" lure from. Donaly's earliest lures were the Catchumbig Bait and The Redfin Minnow, both of them being advertised in 1912. The company lasted until sometime around 1940 after his death. This company manufactured several very interesting and popular lures which include the Catchumbig, Redfin Minnow, the WOW & the Jersey WOW, the Donaly Mouse, the Redfin Floater, Diver, and the Weedless Redfin Bait. These lures are very historically important and much sought after by collectors, especially with their boxes. Some examples of these very unique antique fishing lures and boxes are shown below.
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Unidentified Donaly Lure.
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Donaly Red Fin Minnow and Box. / c. 1911
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Donaly Catchumbig Surface Bait. / c. 1912
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Donaly "Wow" and Box. / c. 1928
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Donaly Red Fin Floater. / c. 1916
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Donaly "Wow". / c. 1928
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Donaly Red Fin Minnow. / c. 1911
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Donaly Musky "Wow" and Box. / c. 1928
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Dickens Bait Company / Fort Wayne, Indiana
This small Indiana bait company was started by John W. Dickens in Fort Wayne around 1916. It is doubtful that this company stayed in business for a very long time as there is very little information through the 1920's. The only lures that I am aware of that were produced by this company are the Liar Convertible Minnow, The Duplex Darter, the Weedless Wonder, Game Fish Getter (Pork Strip Surface Lure), and a very unusual "Chunk" style bait. Some examples of these lures and boxes are shown below.
Dickens Weedless Wonders (right), Liar Convertibles (top left), and Chunk Bait (bottom left) with Boxes. / c. 1920
J.A. Grieder / Cromwell, Indiana
Jethro A. Grieder patented his Retreating Minnow in 1933 in Cromwell, Indiana. This lure and box is extremely scarce and there are not many examples known. There is also not much information known at this time about this Indiana lure maker and his unique backwards running minnow. A few examples are shown below.
Grieder Retreating Minnow with Box / c. 1933
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Grieder Retreating Minnow with Box and rare Paperwork / c. 1933
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Grieder Retreating Minnow with Box / c. 1933
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