Creme Worms 1971

Over the course of the past couple years we’ve presented quite a few soft plastics catalogs on the Bass Fishing Archives. Companies like Burke, DeLong, Culprit, and Mister Twister have all been featured.  Today in Creme Worms 1971, we’re looking back on the company that arguably started the whole soft plastics craze back in 1949.

I’ve held off on writing anything big on Creme in the past waiting for the opportunity to get my hands on an early catalog.  And a few weeks ago, I was able to do just that thanks to Andy Kinslow.  The year 1971 may not seem that early for Creme as a company but this catalog is the earliest I’ve seen, so we’re going to run with it.

Page 1 of the catalog provides the tackle retailer “simple” instructions how to order the baits in varying styles, colors, and package sizes.  Because they had so many different combinations, one needed a Ph.D. in ordering from Creme.  I wonder if this difficult process hindered their sales on some items.

Turning the page, Creme then features their Scoundrel worm and all of its package combinations on pages 2 and 3.  One package selection was the Creme Slip Sinker Kit package that came with six worms, three worm hooks and three worm weights.  Still, by 1971 the Texas Rig had not taken on its famous name.

On Pages 4 and 5 Creme then presented their second most famous worm, the Shimmy Gal and Shimmy Babe.  Like the Scoundrel, this bait came in packs with just worms, Slip Sinker Kits, and pre-rigged baits.

From someone who has hand -poured plastics for over 40 years, the sheer magnitude of options offered makes me wonder how many people they had pouring for them at this time.  On a good 8-hour day, I was able to pour about 3,000 6-inch Scoundrel style worms.  That was a single-color worm.  If I delved into multi-colored baits, the production would drop down to about 2,000 baits in eight hours.  In order for Creme to produce to a national market, and deliver upon receipt of the order, they had to have been pouring at least 100,000 baits a day.

The next page offered some of their less well-known baits, the Wicked series, the Giant worm, and the Serpy series.  I’m not sure which company produced this “tire-tread” style worm first, but the Wicked and Serpy series baits were meant to compete with the JW Lures Hawg Hunter and the Delong Witch.  On the other hand, the Giant Worm was a 10-inch bait designed for the angler hunting trophy bass.

The following page provided an option for shops to display the baits.  The wall and counter racks would give the shop owner a sturdy rack to place on the counter or even hand from the wall.  The Handy Spares rack would hold six dozen packs of unrigged worm packs.  Also offered was a Worm Slip Sinker Kit rack that could hold up to four dozen of these packs.  How I’d love to find one of these racks for my office.

Pages 8-11 represented Creme’s Tru Lur brand of baits which included insects, frogs, waterdogs, and crawdads.  This line of baits I believe was in direct competition with Burke and DeLong.  I wish I had an older catalog so I could determine when Creme came out with these baits.  Based on the 1960 DeLong catalog I mentioned earlier, I know DeLong had these baits out in that year, probably earlier.

Creme also produced some saltwater shrimp imitators as well as a small jig worm called a Specks a-Go-Go.  This is an interesting bait in that all it was, was one of their 6-inch Scoundrels cut in half and both pieces used for the body on a leadhead.  That what I call dual use.

The remaining pages of the catalog were filled with eels, lizards, the Shimmy Liz jig trailer, and several panfish baits.  But it was on page 19 that found something I will look for to add to my office, the Creme Sales Booster Display Rack.  This rack was made of pegboard and a metal frame and if my memory serves me, would rotate.

Creme was selling the rack for $25, but there was a twist if you wanted one.  If you bought the rack and 50 or more display cards, Creme would send you an extra 4 display cards of their Scoundrel worm which would offset the cost of the rack.  That was an easy trade for them in that the rack cost them money whereas the worms were worth way less to them.

That about does it for this catalog.  More information and full color images were placed in the inside cover and this catalog even had an insert.  To read all of these please check out the gallery below.  Open the first image and use the arrows to scroll through the entire catalog.

Gallery – Creme Worms 1971