Heddon research boxes

Field Test Kit Offer

Occasionally Heddon lure boxes turn up marked research. I have always wondered what role they played in Heddon history.  
 Would Heddon go through the trouble of specially labeling boxes for in house research test baits? 
Who were the people doing the research testing?  If they weren't Heddon employees, then who?  Special V.I.P.'s?
How did they get these special baits?
Finally a couple answers.

 









 It turns out that these research baits were offered to only those who had ordered a Heddon Deluxe catalog. These introductory baits were offered at a discounted price  ( a few pennies over 1/2 the normal retail cost) by  Heddon's progressive Research Department and Field Test Director Jim Heddon. Although Heddon called them introductory baits , it seems baits that had been out on the market for years were still offered as research baits.
Heddon asked those who purchased these research baits to send in their feedback along with a picture of themselves and their catch .

 
These research baits were available as an individually boxed single bait or in a multi-lure research kit.

    

A few baits offered for Heddon's research

 

 

This was a great way to promote their baits and do field testing research. I am unsure how many years  Heddon offered these research baits in  several styles of marked boxes. I have only seen a few two piece cardboard research boxes. It is a plain generic looking  box.  ( See following images, Courtesy of Don Grimm and Steve Clegg). I am unsure of the date of these plain boxes. Other research boxes I have seen are the mid 1950's Blue stripe boxes. Heddon also offered a variety of research lure kits in a plastic multi-lure  snap top boxes. The latest boxes I've seen marked research are the  James Heddon's Sons/ Victor Comptometer  boxes of the 1970's.  My guess is that these research baits were offered for about a twenty year period. This would mean there are a good variety of baits to be found in these research boxes. I have seen Punkinseeds, Crazy Crawlers,  all forms of Sonics, Zara & Baby Zara Spooks, Hi Tails, Tadpolly's. Lucky 13's, Sonars and Crackleback lures in individually marked research boxes. I have yet to see any wood baits found in a Heddon research box. I'd be interested in any other info. on Heddon's research baits & boxes.

Photo Courtesy of Don Grimm

Photo courtesy of Steve Clegg

First Day of Trout

Opening Day of Trout Season

  This is a great vintage photo of an anonymous young angler. He is all set with his rod , reel, bait can and willow creel.
  Each time I look at it, I'm instantly transported back in time. It reminds me of the excitement and anticipation I felt on those wonderful opening season trout trips as a boy. Traveling to the Pine Creek with Dad, Pop Pop and their Fishing Buddies. 
 What a feeling to be invited to join them in the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania and wade in the cold ,clear ,fast moving current of the Pine. 
Thanks Dad. 

 

Minnow Trap Mystery

Photo provided by Brent Rossman

 Until recently, this galvanized wire mesh minnow trap has remained unnamed .It is part of Brent Rossman's  minnow trap collection.

Photo provided by Brent Rossman

1939   Edward K. Tryon Catalog Cut showing a wire mesh minnow trap similar to the Brent's Mystery Trap . Although this trap is similar to the one in question it didn't give us a definitive answer on the maker. Tryon sold a lot of tackle, but they were not manufacturers. This Kingfisher Trap looks enough like Brents to confidently suspect there is a connection. This cut states it was available with one or two funnels. Perhaps the two funnel model had two legs like Brent's trap.






 Finally the answer comes from an unlikely source the Old Pal  Fishing Goods MFR's Wilkes Barre , Pa. a division of Penn Metal Ware Company. Who would have known that the Company Famous for  making minnow bait cans also made minnow traps.( Well Brent did, he knew of two different traps made by Old Pal , a common style wire mesh trap and a later plastic model) Once  I discovered the  trap was an Old Pal product it made perfect sense. If  an angler catches bait he'll need to have a way to store and transport the bait. If he has an Old Pal Minnow Bucket  to store & transport bait, he'll need to have the bait to fill it.

This  is a page out of an undated Old Pal catalog. I believe the catalog is from around the start of  World War Two. My reason for approximating that time period is the fact that the Old Pal promotional material found  with the catalog mentions the possibility of upcoming material shortages

I'd like to thank Brent for sharing his photos of  the now identified Old Pal  No.210 series Minnow Trap and his interest in old minnow traps.

Lure of the Month Club - Grube's- Lucky Strike Minnow

March 2012 Lure Of The Month- Bill's Lucky Strike Minnow

W.J. Grube - Bill's Lucky Strike Minnow Box. The label has a faint illustration picturing the bait

Bill's Lucky Strike Minnow

This 1922 Grube  Letterhead lists W.J.  Grube as a manufacturer of Swastika Brand fishing lures, Automobile and Cycle supplies, Bicycles -- Agent for Racine Tires.  Note: Before the Swastikas association with Hitler it was considered a sign of good luck.

    The letterhead above points to the fact that  Bill Grube was also involved with Automobiles, Cycles and Bicycles.
   William J. Grube was a mechanical engineer. According to the 1907 Automobile Trade Journal, by 1907 W.J. Grube had already designed & marketed both engines & cars. In 1907 he turned his attention to motorcycles.  For a year, he had been thoroughly testing his finally adopted 1907 motorcycle design . This means Grube started his motorcycle design only a few years after William S. Harley and  Arthur Davidson offered their first production bike to the public. 

Grubes  " Delaware " Motorcycle

 

 Grube called his motorcycle the "Delaware" and it was made by the Grube Motor Co. of Delaware, Ohio of which Mr. Grube was the general manager. Grube's "Delaware" motorcycle incorporated some unusual  features that were innovative for the time.
  The unusual features  mentioned included a shaft drive, a peculiar motor suspension, and a multiple disc clutch that was controlled from the right handle bar by means of a lever, similar to a brake lever on early pedal cycles.
  By 1910 W.J. Grube had  succeeded A.J. McCullum as head of Miami Cycle & Manufacturing Companies motorcycle department.  
 Don't let the name throw you off, the Miami Cycle & Mfg. company was located in Middletown , Ohio.
  Motorcycle enthusiasts may be interested to know that in 1911 Miami Cycle bought out the famed Merkel Light Motor Company factory in Pottstown , Pa. and took over the companies complete business interests. I wonder if  W.J. Grube was still heading Miami's motorcycle dept. when they bought out Merkel and started manufacturing the Flying Merkel.

Click here-Grube Motorcycle article Google Books 1907 Automobile trade journal 

Image of Grube's shop with cycles parked out front. Circa 1914 from the Delaware , Ohio Gazette.

 It seems that Grube reinvented himself  in the teen years of the Twentieth century. Migrating from the world of cars & cycles to that of fishing tackle.
  The earliest information I can find connecting Grube to fishing tackle is a 1917 patent for a design improvement for artificial baits. The last piece of info. I could find on Grube fishing tackle was in a 1950 Sporting Goods Dealers Directory of the Sporting Goods trade. It had a simple text listing  Grube's rubber fishing baits W.J. Grube 
42 E. Winter St. Delaware, O. 
 I would guess that the Grube baits found in the plastic snap boxes would have been from around this time period.
 W.J. Grube made lot of lures including a Humdinger spinnered minnow, a mouse, grasshopper,helgramite, frog, crawfish, and several other rubber critter type lures under the names Swastika brand , Delaware  and True to Nature Lures. Grube also made a spinner bait type lure called the Hydroplane as well as the Lucky Strike Minnow.

 

Early Lucky Strike Minnow two piece cardboard box paper work, stating the bait is rubber with a cork center. Offered in two models, floating & semi-floating.

2 piece  cardboard Lucky Strike Minnow Box

Later hinged plastic snap box with enclosed paper work.

Later Plastic snap box paper work,  stating the bait is made of stock rubber with a composition center. It lists three models. Close attention to the descriptions of each model will dismiss the belief that the rubber lip Lucky Strike Minnows can always be positively identified as the earlier version of this bait.

Delong Lures of Cleveland , Ohio produced a reversible # 400 lure out of foam plastic. It looks remarkably like Grubes Lucky Strike minnow and it's often misidentified by collectors as a Grube bait. Delongs started up in the tackle business around 1946. Several of their baits bear a strong resemblance to Grube products. I can't help but think Grube had a connection or at least some sort of influence on Delongs products.

I collect early fishing tackle related paperwork and letterhead like the Grube letterhead shown in this post. If you have any early ,interesting lure company letterhead or other tackle company papers, I'd be interested in buying or trading or simply hearing about it. Hope you enjoyed this Lure Of The Month Blog Post.