Back in July 2022 we posted an article that featured several pieces of bass tackle from 1949. Since that time, I have uncovered several more ads from 1949 featuring more bass lures. Today in Bass Lures 1949, I’m going to share these baits with you all.
1949 was an interesting year in the fishing industry. World War II was just four years in the past and production of tackle had taken a major upward turn. New technology, such as fiberglass and nylon, had permeated the trade and new products were being introduced at a fast pace.
Another thing that hits me is the number of companies that were producing like products. This especially rings a bell with me after attending ICAST this year and all the hoopla of manufacturers copying each other, especially when the supposed copy cats win Best of Show.
So, let’s get going with these ads.
Louis J. Eppinger Inc.
Louis Eppinger Inc. is made famous by his Dardevle spoon, invented around 1917 and originally named the Osprey. By 1949, the red and white Dardevle had become a staple is every bass man’s box throughout the upper Midwest as well as many other parts f the States. This ad from 1949 would mark the business’s 32nd year but reading the ad, it states the Weedless Dardevle is brand new for 1949.
What makes this ad special? It is the first example of a company copying the product of another in this article. What bait did the Weedless Dardevle copy, you ask? Well, it was Louis Johnson’s Silver Minnow weedless spoon, which was invented in 1920. The success of the Johnson Silver Minnow, which was patented in 1922, was without doubt the reason for Eppinger to delve into this spoon configuration. But Eppinger’s take on the weedless spoon wouldn’t be the last lure maker to knock off the Johnson spoon.
I am not sure how Eppinger got away with manufacturing this lure other than Johnson’s patent must have run out. I ran a patent search for Eppinger’s Weedless Dardevle and came up empty for this exact bait. I did run across a patent for another variant of this spoon from 1939 that had three hooks, though. Another thought is that the line tie for Eppinger’s spoon is a lot different than that of Johnson’s and the hook placement is different. Different enough to receive his own patent but this ad doesn’t state anywhere that the lure was in the process of being patented or was patented. Let’s move on to the next company.
Tony Accetta and Son
Tony Accetta is another name that pops up frequently in the magazine ads from the1930s through the 1960s. Accetta was a world-class casting champion in the 1930s and 1940s but also got into the lure making business. Accetta developed several spoon-type lures, one of which had a blade that was attached to the front of the spoon.
The blade was of the type used by Fred Arbogast as well a Al Foss. It was somewhat like a buzzbait blade but different. This ad, though, doesn’t feature any of those spoons.
In this ad we see another weedless spoon, the Tony Accetta Weed-Dodger. Again it appears to be a fairly close replica of Johnson’s spoon, but there are some differences. In this case the hook and weedguard are screwed into the body of the spoon. It also appears that the weedguard is tack welded to the spoon just behind the line tie.
The line tie, as in the Eppinger model, is simply a drilled hole at the front of the spoon. Also Accetta’s and Eppinger’s hook are mounted by driving the hook point through a hole in the back of the spoon and then rotating it to screw it in.
I noticed that Accetta also noted the spoon was patented so I did a patent search for the bait and found that he had submitted the design for patent in 1937. He received the patent in 1939. I wonder if this patent affected the Eppinger Weedless Dardevle in any way, since the two spoons like very much alike.
Hawk Fish Lure Corp.
I have been interested in Dave Hawk and his father Capt. O. L. Hawk for their contributions to the bass fishing world. It’s rumored that Dave Hawk is the angler who invented the Texas Rigged worm. Hawk, for a time, owned the PICO bait company of Padre Island, Texas, but prior to that he and his father owned Hawk Fish Lure Corp out of St. Louis, Missouri.
Hawk was not only a tackle builder, he was also one of the best guides on the lakes of Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and Missouri. He won numerous contests in the day before contemporary bass tournaments and people looked up to him as one of the best bass anglers in the central part of the U.S. He also wrote two of the premier scientific books on bass fishing, “80 Years on Bass,” and “100 Years on Bass.”
In this ad Hawk Fish Lure Corp was touting their Bass Hawk Lure. It appears to be a shallow diving crankbait and in the ad it states that the has a “life-like action.” They also claim that the action is attained without use of metal gadgets or screws. The lure was injection molded plastic and was assembled with through-wire construction.
Millsite Tackle Co.
Millsite is another one of those old companies that was ubiquitous in the 1940s and ‘50s. Founded sometime in the 1930s, Millsite had a vast array of lures over the years, including the two featured in this ad.
First off, Millsite is promoting the Rattle Bug, a shallow diving lure that resembled a beetle in shape. The lure had one treble hook, a metal diving bill, and was made from plastic. This lure was introduced in 1940 and incorporated a loose metal ball inside the body to produce noise. It is believed by collectors that this was the first lure to feature a rattle.
The second bait in the ad is their Deep Creep. Billed as a lure that would get down deep, this lure must have been weighted as the design of the bill isn’t that of a deep diving lure. The one design feature that should jump out at you is the scary resemblance to a Heddon River Runt, thus making this lure another copycat. By this time, the Heddon River Runt had a cult following because it caught fish. No wonder Millsite knocked the design off.
Paul Bunyan Bait Company
The Paul Bunyan Bait Company had its roots in Minnesota and is a company I have found little information on. Of the dozen books I have on collectable lures, only one had a small blurb in it about the company. But, reading through the old magazines, you’d have thought Paul Bunyan Bait Company had been very popular in the day, as there hasn’t been a magazine that I haven’t found an ad in.
This ad shows a lady angler by the name of Mary Elmer who evidently belonged to the Wolftever Fishing Club out of Chattanooga, Tennessee. She’s holding a hefty bass that she caught on Paul Bunyan’s 66 Lure, a weight-forward spinner adorned with a feathered treble hook.
The ad doesn’t give any data on the regular sized 66 Lure but does state they make a smaller Midget in the series that weighed 1/5-ounce. The ad also stated there was a weedless version available too.
Sunny Brook Lure Company
Here’s a confusing ad by the Sunny Brook Lure Company, or is it the Layfield Lures Company? I have no idea. This company, whichever title they fly under, was based out of the early bass capital of Tyler, Texas.
The ad is pimping a shallow-running crankbait, which appears to have no name. It weighed in at 1/2-ounce and was available in 12 colors. The ad featured an image of two anglers who supposedly caught 50 pounds of bass on the bait in a span of only four hours.
The lure is approved by Sportsman’s Research (a non-profit), so it must have been good.
There’s a lot going on in this ad. For starters, you can’t tell what the name of the company nor the bait is, they’ve spelled Layfield two different ways, they say “for best results, order in sets of 3 or 4,” and if you order four baits, they’ll send you a “Hot Secrets” booklet.
Oh, and don’t forget to wear your three-piece suit when you go bassin in the hot Texas sun.
Uncle Josh Pork Rind Baits
Uncle Josh is the only remaining company from the early 20th century that produces pork rind, and that’s after nearly a 10-year hiatus from making the porcine lure adornment. Uncle Josh was founded in 1922 by Alan Jones in Fort Atkinson, Wisconsin, and named after one of their favorite comedians Uncle Josh.
This ad is simple and to the point. It calls out the products they manufactured, which at the time was a green frog, the Pollywoggler, pork strips and pork chunks. At this point in time, Uncle Josh’s main competition was from Lutz pork rind based out of Kansas City, Missouri and Pedigo, based out of Bowling Green, Kentucky.
Wood Manufacturing Co.
Wood Manufacturing got its start sometime in the early 1940s and produced several baits for their lineup, most of which are present in this ad. Unlike their name, Wood’s lures were made of plastic, most likely out of Tenite, which was a popular material in the day.
The diving lips on each bait had a channel running down the centerline, which makes this companies baits easy to identify. In this ad they feature five of their current baits, the Dipsy Doodle, two sizes of the Spot tail Minnow, and two sizes of the Deep-R-Doodle.
The baits came in a wide assortment of colors and are collectors items today because of it.
Wright & McGill
Wright & McGill is mostly known for hooks, Eagle Claw, and for its rods. But in the mid part of the 20th century, they also had a line of baits. Included in this line was the Miracle Minnow.
The ad shown here is touting the durability of their bait claiming that one lure itself caught over 500 fish. The lure itself has an appearance of a Clark’s Water Scout with the gouged-out eye and the short metal bill.
According to one of my reference books, the Miracle Minnow was made in six different versions, some being jointed and other non-jointed as in this ad. The baits were made of plastic and according to this ad, could take a beating.
That about does it for today’s look back at the lures of 1949. If you liked the article, please share it with others who may enjoy it too.
