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Hardy 3 inch Wide Drum Perfect with revolving line guard.

This article was originally conceived some long time ago but was set aside for various reasons. These reasons included my own indisposition, the demise of the ‘Antique Tackle Observer’- which at the time I thought would be short-lived.  Alas, like so many other events in all our lives the period of hibernation of the magazine has proved to be somewhat longer than predicted, however, the re-emergence of the ‘Antique Tackle Observer’ online is welcomed.

This article shows all the different ‘checks’ fitted to the 3” wide drum Perfect throughout its period of production of some 50 years.

The 3″ inch Perfect was first listed by Hardy’s in 1891 and continued to appear in the catalogues until the outbreak of World War two in 1939, though it was amongst the reels suspended from production due to the first World War. The precise period of suspension is not known as notification of this decision did not appear until the 1917 catalogue was issued. As no catalogue was issued for 1916 it is possible that the reference to suspension would have appeared then – with the decision having been actioned in 1915.

Given the lack of demand for this reel we believe that no reels containing the 1917 check were ever produced in the 3” size – though we would like to hear to the contrary.

The first reel of the nine in this size which comprise the subject of this article is the all brass 3” wide drum Perfect with solid drum.

This reel has the early version of the check with the ratchet Pawl secured in position by an ‘S’ spring. Pressure was applied to the pawl through a ‘C’ spring under control of a rim mounted regulator screw which controlled the presser slide movement.

This method of rim mounted regulator control remained standard throughout the Perfect range excepting only some rare ‘Silent Check’ models, ie those fitted with a constant pressure non – adjustable spring plate which applied drag to the inner rear face of the line drum. 

The 3” all brass Perfect is an extremely rare reel and should be acquired if seen.

All brass 3” wide drum Perfect with solid face plate. Circa 1891 -1895

The second reel pictured is a 3” Brass faced reel. Note, the ‘S’ the spring securing the pawl has been deleted.

3” Wide drum Brass faced reel

This principle of applying drag remained in use for several years with only slight changes to the thickness of the flat ‘C’ spring, presumably to extend the life of the spring – and to reduce the possibility of failure.

All Alloy reel with heavier "C" spring.

Around 1905 the design of the ‘C’ spring was revised from a flat spring to one with the side arms standing at right angles to the frame face. Again, it is likely that this change added strength to the spring and allowed for greater pressure to be applied to the pawl to increase the drag. This re-designed ‘C’ spring complete with modified presser slide is shown in reel number 4.

Re-designed ‘C’ spring.

Reel number 5 introduced the all new check first referred to in the 1911 Catalogue – but not pictured until the 1912 catalogue. Reference to the new check was made in the 1911 catalogue in the text describing the newly introduced 3.3/4” St. George reel. Commonly referred to as the 1912 check- it was probably being manufactured during the latter part of 1910. This check work rapidly became a favourite amongst anglers, and its desirability both to fishermen and collectors persists to this day. It is seen here in a left hand wind Perfect fitted with a solid face plate to the drum. In this configuration it is an extremely rare reel.

1912 Check LHW.

1912 check with rare uncatalogued version of presser bar.

This reel is possibly unique having check work comprising components from the 1912 check and what is perhaps the prototype presser bar for the 1917 check work. Here we have to consider the circumstances which existed at the time. The country was engaged in a war the end of which was not in sight. We know that certain components and materials were either in short supply or simply not available – ball races are but one example. Other action taken to combat the predictable shortages generated by the conflict – of materials and certain alloys – included the suspension from manufacture of certain reels from the company’s product line referred to above. This in turn encouraged the search for economies and the 1912 check which had been some five years in production was an obvious candidate for revision. The arrangement and design of components developed further into what we now call the 1917 check. (See Reel 10 below). By this means Hardy’s had not only managed to keep to their policy of introducing modifications roughly every five years – but had designed and produced a check which was not just functional – but also satisfied the need for economy of material and was cheaper to manufacture and assemble. It is possible the reel shown here was a prototype which either ‘escaped’ from the factory or was sold rather than being dismantled after its construction.

Reel number 7 shows the jump from the 1912 check through the check of reel number 6 to the new 1921 check fitted to the wide drum Perfect. This 1921 check was eventually to be improved for 1922 by the inclusion internally – on the same inner face – of a spare spring and pawl.  The purpose of this was to ensure that in the event of a spring or pawl failure – or loss – the angler could continue fishing by simply fitting the spare components.

Reel 7 1921/1922 check works with spares.

Reel 8 shows the final version of the 1922 check work with the spares repositioned for engagement with the toothed wheel if - or when required. This revision occurred during 1928 but was not pictured in the catalogue until 1929.

Reel 8 Final version of the 1922 check works

Picture 9.  The reader will now look quickly at this reel and think 1917 check. While it is similar to the 1917 check fitted in the narrow drum Perfect from that date – this Reel actually dates from around the middle 1940s. This can be determined by the black paint applied to the reel components. Most of the black paint has been removed – or worn off the drum face and the handle plate – but remains intact on its other surfaces. The missing ‘spare’ components would allow for another reel to be made – albeit also without spares. Reel 9 shows the 3” wide drum issued during the war years with single check and no spares. This was the final version of the reel issued during wartime of the 3” wide drum reel – it was not re-issued following the end of hostilities.

Final version of the 3 inch Wide Drum Perfect.

This foregoing is not the extent of the information concerning these reels. We need now to consider other factors which may have gone unnoticed by the casual reader or indeed the casual collector which have a significant impact upon the scarcity – and hence the value – of the 3”Perfect.

Let us consider first the period during which the reel was introduced.  It is common knowledge that game fishing was largely the preserve of the wealthy and very few ordinary people could afford to participate in the sport. It would be another sixty or seventy years and two world wars later before it became the mass pursuit that it is today, demand for expensive fishing reels during this long period remained relatively low.  

So what does this mean for the 3” Perfect? A study of the production figures for this size reel shows that between 1925 and 1937 some 214 reels were sold. We need at this point to remember that there were other suppliers of quality fishing tackle in business in this country. Several of these would no doubt have wealthy clients who for one reason or another preferred reels made by them, all of which reduced the potential for sales of Hardy’s products. Other factors which would also have impacted upon demand for reels in general were – the depressions of 1921 and 1926, and the 1929 economic crash in the United States. This was accompanied by an increase in import duty to 29% for fishing tackle imported into the States.

Taking all these factors into account and studying the known production figures available for the period, it is unlikely that total numbers of the 3”wide drum Perfect exceeded more than 300 Reels.

Front View

Winding plate view

Front view

Winding plate view

More importantly, certain of these customer requested variants did not continue into the general production output – presumably because it was thought that no commercial benefit would result from their inclusion. 

The reel which we have to show readers of the ‘Antique Tackle Observer’ on this occasion demonstrates this policy of Hardy’s precisely. The Perfect reel shown dates from around the period of 1904/5 and has been manufactured as a Left Hand Wind reel which makes it extremely rare. Photo  It is the earliest all alloy Perfects we have yet seen produced as a true LHW. Its existence confirms that Hardy’s would produce a LHW reel to satisfy a customer request at any time during the last 100 years but that LHW was not considered to offer any commercial potential and so the principle of LHW reels was never exploited.

Readers will already know that early LHW reels are seldom found and though Hardy’s eventually offered LHW as a cost option from the late 1920s – very few were ever made. An indication of the rarity of early LHW Perfects was published last year by Neil Freeman – the internationally renowned and highly respected Proprietor of the London based ‘Angling Auctions’. In the catalogue for his 2005 October sale. Lot 445 was – Quote “an extremely rare LHW Brass Faced Perfect” about which it was said – Quote, “one of only very few genuine LHW Perfects to ever have been offered for sale”

This statement must be viewed from the standpoint of his many years as an auctioneer during which time he has handled many thousands of Hardy’s Perfect reels. It is perhaps pertinent to remind readers that the scarcity of LHW Perfects and their desirability amongst collectors, has led to numerous fakes being produced and sold on ebay. A growing number of collectors are now aware of these forgeries and to those not yet acquainted with them – beware.

All LHW Perfects claiming to be pre 1954 should be approached with caution, viewed with suspicion, and where possible a second opinion should be sought from someone sufficiently knowledgeable to give it. Otherwise that pride of place amongst your collection could be occupied by an expensive – but worthless – piece of junk ‘manufactured’ in someone’s garden shed.

However, important though this particular reel is for its LHW configuration, it has another – perhaps even more important reason for being the subject of this article. Many readers of this magazine will understand and agree with one of the Antique Tackle Observer’s aims – which is to publish all manner of information regarding fishing tackle. Some of the information will be new and unknown, some old and widely available, some important, and some perhaps less so – but all of interest to its worldwide circle of readers.

Whilst it is true that not everything appeals to all subscribers all of the time however new or important it might be, what the content of the magazine does achieve is the recording and widespread dissemination of knowledge to – and amongst – the collecting fraternity. This ensures that information is recorded and preserved for those who come after us who will also seek answers which perhaps cannot be found elsewhere. With this said we can now show this little known variant of the Hardy alloy Perfect – a LHW reel fitted with a tapered spindle. 

As far as we can determine this variation was never catalogued, but discussion with a long serving member of Hardy’s staff confirmed existence of this spindle was known and that the taper was two degrees. It seems that very few reels were ever fitted with this design of spindle which suggests it may have been an experimental exercise which was quickly discontinued.  Because the reel in which it is fitted dates from around 1904/5 it is reasonable to assume the spindle dates from around that period.

Whilst the principle of tapered spindle/shafts running in tapered bearings is well understood – it is difficult to see what advantage it would confer to a fishing reel. It may well have reduced wear – and provided for minor adjustment of worn components, but given the production methods and machines of the day – would certainly have been more expensive to produce and would presumably have made the interchange of drums between reels fitted with the parallel spindle impossible.

Just why the tapered spindle was introduced – or abandoned – may never be known, we do know that it is excessively rare as all other authors on the subject of Hardy’s Perfects seem to have overlooked it. However, it does show yet again the effort which Hardy’s put into their policy of continuous development to ensure the Perfect was as good as it could be made.

The question the discovery of the tapered spindle now poses for us all is ‘what other curious but short lived modifications made by Hardy’s are still out there waiting to be found by an unsuspecting collector, and shall we ever really know all there is to know about this most perfect of fishing reels’? A more immediate question must be – was the tapered spindle fitted to other sizes of the narrow drum Perfect and  was it also used in the wide drum Salmon reels? Readers who have collections including Perfects should check their reels for this variant – it shouldn’t take long as it was probably restricted to a small number of reels dating around 1904/5. Any discoveries should be reported to the Editor who will I’m sure welcome any additional information the readers can provide.

Update 10th August 2010

When I wrote the above article - following the discovery of a little known Hardy reel component variation – the “Tapered Spindle”. I had hoped that the Hardy reel collecting fraternity would report the existance of multiple examples from amongst their own collections. It was hoped information would be submitted in sufficient quantity and from so many different sources that we would be able through this research to define the year in which the the “Tapered Spindle” first appeared and the year when it was discontinued.

It was also hoped that evidence of its fitment to differen Hardy reels would also emerge. Alas, this has not (as far as I am aware) happened. My own further research discovered only one other example. This second example is important because it tells us that the “Tapered Spindle” was not a short lived experiment to be discarded as a failure shortly after its introduction.

The reel in which this further example was found is a 1912 Bougle which is pictured below. So, far from being abandoned very quickly it is now confirmed as having a life span of some five years, and It is useful to note that Hardy’s usually introduced changes to their reels aproximatelly every five years. This must mean that there are very many more reels built with this spindle than previously thought.

The question is where on earth are they – and what was the intended purpose of their design – and finally, why was the design deleted?

It is here that we can begin to speculate possible reasons for the introduction of a revised spindle design. Given Hardy’s well known policy of making the ‘Perfect Reel’ for their customers – it is possible the new spindle design was a development aimed at reducing wear between the spindle and its bearing bush – therebye reducing or eliminating the ‘wobble’ of the spool on its spindle which occurs after long years of service. 

The second speculation questions why so few of these tapered spindles have been found? It may be because Hardy’s made relatively few of them for the purpose of ‘Field Testing’. These would be assembled into a variety (possibly) of fly reels which would then be gifted to certain well known anglers who in turn would use them for a set period of time before returning them to the factory for determination of the spindles’ ’wear characteristics’.

I could speculate further - but it may be that readers of this article may wish to add their own thoughts on this subject, hopefully they will and I’m sure the editor will be pleased to add them for the benefit of everyone. 

I would encourage those who read this addendendum to the original article - to look again at their reels and if you should find a ” Tapered Spindle” amongst  them – then please report the details to the Editor of this site.

Hardy Trade Reel at Mullocks Auction

John Mullock has revamped the online catalogue and it looks great.

For further details  click here.

Various information came to light and here we will just tie up all the loose ends.

Goble & Celluloid Baits

Walt Hickerson from Tulsa is a collector who specialises in Goble baits and was kind enough to get me a copy of the paper work that came with a bait. This piece of paper belongs to Louie Tate who acquired it from a guy called Kent Clarke also known as Superman by some.

He found it at a garage sale in the early 1970’s. It was in a boxed set of Goble baits all mint and unused, he left the baits and bought the paper for $1. No one has ever seen the boxed set of baits or knows what happened to them.

Tulsa Wiggler Paperwork.

As you can see the bait was actually called the Tulsa Wiggler and B. G Goble had a few thousand of the baits made. His intention was to start making the baits in his own factory along with his patent minnow. The thoughts are that he never got the factory running and went back to his oil field supply company.

Walt Hickerson's collection of Tulsa baits.

Access to a DAM catalogue circa 1933 finally cleared up the mystery of who made the Vampir baits. The original DAM Vampire baits were made by Heddon and imported into Germany by them.

Novum Wobblers from the DAM 1933 catalogue showing their own baits.

Pikie Bass and Killer baits from the 1933 DAM catalogue.

Vampir Baits from the 1933 DAM catalogue

Heddon had patented and introduced them as the Gamefisher in 1923 but it  was not until the early 1930’s that DAM started to import them into Europe.

DAM quickly introduced them to Europe, copied them, came out with an improved bait and considerably expanded the range of baits offered. This expansion came in the early 1930’s after Otto Kuntze had perfected the making of the baits.

Otto Kuntze had originally joined DAM in 1910 providing additional resources to Oscar and Fritz Ziegenspeck the original founders of the company.

His improvement was in the coating that was applied to the basic Heddon bait.

The German language catalogue calls the bait the D.A.M Wobbler (Holz=Zelluloid=Spinner) which translates as “Wooden Celluloid Spinner”.

We also see the American retailed DAM bait, the Celluloid Wooden bait, and I have been asked were some made of celluloid.  The answer is no. What DAM had done was to cover the bait with a celluloid finish rather than the standard wood varnish. With the help of some very experienced chemists he came up with his new covering. I suspect that it was similar to those celluloid’s used by Percy Wadham. After all DAM did retail the Wadham baits in various European countries.

12 box samples of Celluloid Baits

Celluloid Bait sample box of 6 baits.

 They also made slight adjustments to the positioning of the treble hooks to give a better performing lure with greater durability.

DAM claimed to be  the only European maker of such baits and that others who claimed to make these baits were actually selling DAM made baits.

One picture that I omitted from the last article is the one showing the similarity of art work on the Ever Ready box and the Celluloid box.

Artwork on the Celluloid box.

Artwork on the Ever Ready box.

Front cover of the DAM 1936 Catalogue.

I have also included the illustrations from the 1933 DAM catalogue.

To sum up:

The first Vampir baits were made by Heddon and imported into Germany.

In 1933 Otto Kuntze had perfected his own version of this bait and sold it through his own European distribution network.

DAM imported the Wigglefish from Creek Chub and then made their own bait in three different sizes unlike the single size Creek Chub Wigglefish. These baits were called Bass.

The Celluloid Baits were made by DAM for export to Europe and the USA. These baits were the Oreno, Killer, Pinguin, Bass

DAM made baits for Gobble who sold and marketed them in the USA. These baits were the two and three section Tulsa Wiggler that DAM sold through their own distribution network as Killers.

All the companies were aware of each others products with co-operation taking place initially between them. I suspect that after a while the American companies thought that as the DAM company offered no real threat they just let them get on with it.

Clyde Harbin sent me a series of photographs of baits that he had located in the Heddon factory some years ago. It is interesting that the Wigglefish is almost certainly a DAM manufactured bait.

He also seen me various Heddon Game Fishers and Vampir baits again from the Heddon factory. Why would they have them? Almost certainly checking up on what DAM was producing and keeping informed about what was going on in the world.

I have started looking into Malloch Sidecaster reels, having previously given them scant attention, due to the fact that they were not the only people making them. The patent expired in 1900 and having seen an advert for a sidecaster by Smith & Wall I wondered who else made them. Certainly there were a few, the Forrest of Kelso one differs from the others in the fact that there is a rim mounted on off check button. Les Shaw had a Foster of Ashbourne model and Andrew Race had a Reuben Heatons model. Just how many other makers are there? I would be interested in receiving pictures and information.

After the show I joined a friend fishing for carp, well he was fishing as I am a bit of a traditionalist and follow the close season. He has found a great lake where the fish just cruise around and its possible to stalk them. He told me that he uses pet food and that if I went on a site selling pet supplies I should be able to get what I wanted, petsintime.co.uk had a very large selection and somewhat baffling. Eventually we settled on dog biscuits and found a nice advantaged position overlooking the lake and started throwing a few free offering to the cruising carp.

It was fascinating and after a short time Ray baited his hook with a dog biscuit and cast out and I followed with the free offerings, the carp homed in on the bait and it was heart stopping. After 5 minutes all the free offering had been taken but they showed little or no interest in the hook bait.

Two hours later with half a bag of dog biscuits gone we still had not managed to get a carp to take the bait. We discussed it and started crediting the carp with super intelligence, surely they could see that the hook bait was sitting lower in the water than the free offering? maybe.

I will return to this lake and try again possibly with floating bread flake, with a split cane rod and an Aerial reel.

For further details of the fair contact John Andrews tel 07980 274 383 or email johnandrews@btinternet.com

Also click here

On further questioning I managed to find out that he had been offered a small collection of these reels, more questions and probing and suddenly I might be offered one of the reels. So here we go!

Otto Max Zwarg was born in Berlin, Germany in 1899. After completing his basic education he trained as a dentist and, sometime in late 1922 – early 1923, he emigrated to the United States. However in order to practise his profession in America he would have had to have taken supplementary qualifications.

Otto Zwarg 1899-1958

His wife and newly born daughter were still in Germany, presenting the young Otto with a problem. Should he try and gain the additional qualifications to work as a dentist, thus delaying the arrival of his family or take temporary work and bring his family over immediately? He would then be able to gain his qualifications at leisure.

He chose the later and gained employment with a company started by another German born immigrant Edward Von Hofe.

His wife and daughter arrived in America in December 1923 and such was his love of the temporary work that he had undertaken that he never practised dentistry.

He eventually rose to be head of reel production at the Vom Hofe Company, a position he held until the company went out of business in 1940.

Otto purchased the tools and dies of the Vom Hofe Company along with other equipment and various spares. From 1940 until 1946 there are some gaps in the biography, partially due to the fact that he was employed in defence work.

The Norden bomb sight was a top secret project during W.W.II and whilst he laboured on this during the day, evenings would be spent working on fishing tackle.

In particular he would repair and renovate the Vom Hofe reels as well as manufacturing split cane fishing rods.

He made reels for two New York retail outlets, Abercrombie & Fitch and William Mills & Son. One unanswered question is, “What year did he start supplying them with reels?” This leads to a further question “What reels were they?”

In 1946 he was making reels under his own name from premises in Brooklyn New York. He had been joined by three new directors who not only encouraged and assisted him in setting up the company but also persuaded him to relocate to Florida.

The idea was to build a fishing lodge that would be set up in the Maximo Point area of St. Petersburg catering for wealthy sport fishing enthusiasts. They would come to buy the high quality reels made by Zwarg, and also to take part fishing in an area with a renowned sporting reputation. The Zwarg reels were intentionally not mass produced, as the directors decided that custom built reels were more valuable and suited to the exclusive nature of the new venture.

Otto Zwarg workshop 1947

Dorsey Whittington was president of the Otto Zwarg Co., Inc., and was also a world famous concert pianist. He started fishing as a young boy on Catalina Island in company of such famous fishermen as Zane Grey and Charles Holder.

He followed the tradition of the Tuna Club and was an advocate of using light tackle, not only around Catalina Island, but in Europe as well.

Eugene G. Fitzgerald was the Vice President of the company and the Southern Sales Manager of the L. G. Balfour Company. Well known as a sportsman with not just with the rod but also the gun and, like Dorsey, an advocate of fishing with light tackle.

William G. Pforr also Vice President was distributor for the Zwarg Company in the New York area and eastern U.S.A. He also worked as Sales Manager for the L. G. Balfour in the New York area and was another angler of repute. Otto’s wife Martha was the company secretary, but not a stockholder.

Another investor would join the company once the move to Florida was completed. This stockholder was Oscar Steinert a wealthy builder and fisherman who rented Otto premises at 635 First Avenue South. These were originally intended to be temporary until the lodge was built (but the planned lodge never materialised!).

So in 1947 the company was set up in Florida and in June the catalogue was issued.

The range of reels from the 1947 catalogue

Whilst working for the Edward Vom Hofe Company, Otto would have been making more than twenty different models of reels – for his own company he chose three.

These three reels were the model 300 Saguenay, model 400 Laurentian and model 500 Maximo. They were based on the Vom Hofe Restigouche, Tobique and the Universal Star models. They were available in sizes 1/0, 2/0, 3/0, 4/0, and 6/0 just like the Vom Hofe reels. These sizes corresponded to 3 1/8 , 3 3/8 , 3 5/8,, 3 7/8, and 4 ¼ inches. He did make two sizes that were not catalogued the 9/0 and 12/0 Maximo reels. This is a little strange as there is a picture of him working on a 12/0 Maximo in the catalogue.

The Saguenay and the Laurentian were named after the two well known salmon rivers in Canada. The Maximo after Maximo Point on the south western most point of St. Petersburg where the lodge was going to be sited. Maximo Point was named after Antonio Maximo who established a “fish ranche” there in 1843.

The Laurentian was a 2:1 multiplying reel exactly like the Vom Hofe Tobique. The reels were made from ebonite or hard rubber, nickel silver rims, S shaped counterbalanced handles and Tobin bronze bearings. The oversized gears were also made of bronze, with the centre of the axle containing a crucible steel drill rod forming the pivot. Although the reels were machine made they were assembled by hand and the countersunk screws were hand cut. Like the Vom Hofe reels the oil cap was a sliding disc.

Otto Zwarg also offered special presentation reels consisting of 10K solid gold or silver name plate inset into the reel. This service cost $50 for the gold and $45 for the Sterling silver including engraving.

In addition to making his range of reels he offered a reel repair service specialising in Edward Vom Hofe reels. In the 1947 catalogue there is a letter from Edward Vom Hofe’s son Edwin endorsing the activities of Otto Zwarg.

The company also offered to refurbish split cane rods by removing the old varnish, replacing the guides and re-whipping the rod with new silk thread.

Like many people previously he numbered his reels and reputedly kept a record of every reel made, however this log has not yet turned up. This numbering system has helped in dating the tackle that he made.

The prefix A indicates that the reel was made in 1946. The oil cap was marked “Otto Zwarg, Maker, Brooklyn, N.Y.”

The prefix B, the year of the move to Florida, can be on either the Brooklyn or St. Petersburg address. The name stamped on the oil cap had changed to “O Zwarg Co. Inc., Maker, St. Petersburg, Fla.”

Some reels have even turned up with just the letter “Z” on the oil cap and have been sold as prototypes. I do not believe that these reels were prototypes, merely early made reels produced at a time when the company’s trading style had yet to be established.

Size 1/0 Model 400 Laurentian reel.

In the spring of 1958 Otto Zwarg suffered a fatal heart attack whilst walking in St. Petersburg. With his death reel making ceased, although some reels have appeared with the letter “N” for 1959 and “O” for 1960.

I believe that these reels were not made after his death they were made whilst he was alive and sold later.

In 1955 the company was advertising as a maker of “precision parts, dies and tools for the electronic field. Models, tools and dies for precision instruments”, no mention of fishing tackle. It is conceivable that reel production had totally ceased prior to this year as it was just not profitable, and that reels with the “J” prefix and all subsequent reels were just taken from stock and merely stamped when sold.

Some may question Zwarg’s position as a great reel maker due to the fact that he only produced three reels during his life time, and that he merely copied proven models invented by his former employers Vom Hofe.

If we look at the time he was making reels in his own right it was from 1946 – 1955 eleven years. We can only speculate what would have happened had he been in business on his own from the 1930’s.

Size 1/0 Model 400 Laurentian

What is certain is the fact that with only 11 or 14 years of production the reels are scarce and much sought after. I know a few collectors who have been buying his reels for more than twenty years. There are only three models in five sizes, fifteen reels plus the two uncatalogued Maximo reels in total seventeen, not such a daunting task to complete a collection? I know nobody who has a complete set.

The Laurentian size 1/0 is an exceptionally rare reel that I bought at Neil Freeman’s auction in London in April 1998 for £2,400 – I had never seen this reel before or since. It is the same with the other two models in the smaller sizes – they are in great demand.

Size 1/0 Model 400 Laurentian

What I do know is that some people still use his reels to fish with today, preferring the “chunkier” construction of his reels over the Edward Vom Hofe ones.

Otto used aluminium on his reels to lighten them without any loss of quality, whereas the Vom Hofe reels with aluminium look cheap and are generally associated with the substandard reels produced at the Philadelphia address.

One regret is that he never produced a range of trout reels, or a very large big game reel. Still never mind we cannot have everything and at least we do have examples of his work.

First published December 1999 issue 27

Heddon Gamefisher

I did wonder why Heddon never took legal action against DAM and I thought what if Heddon made the bait for DAM? (Or visa versa.) After all the Gamefisher had been introduced in 1923 and had US Patent No. 1,477,756 filed in August 1922 covering its design.

Over the years I have had many conversations with collectors in Germany and America and the conclusion is that no one knows who made them.

My own opinion is that Heddon allowed DAM to produce them. The argument that they were all made by the same company falls down because the German baits have the slotted “V” body whereas the American baits have the inverse “V” body.

1938 DAM Catalogue Illustration

The illustration right is from the 1936 DAM catalogue and the baits are divided into two types. Those on the left are wobblers with a flatter body and those on the right wobblers with a rounder body. It is the baits on the right that will be concentrating on in this article.

Through the years I have continued to look at the illustration of the lures in the 1936, but it was not until that I took a closer look at the rounded wobblers that I noticed even more similarities to American made baits.

We can clearly see from the illustration that the top left lure, 3035 the Vampir, (in English Vampire) is very similar to the Heddon Gamefisher.  The Gamefisher pictured right shows the inverse “V” style. DAM also made a two section version, just like Heddon.

The Heddon bait was sold in eight catalogue colours, Rainbow, White Body Red Head, Green Scale, Pike Scale, Shiner Scale, Orange with Black Spots, Blue Scale and Natural Scale. Many special colours were available.

The Vampir was sold in seven colours: White with Red Stripe, White Red and Silver, Blue and Silver, Brown and Gold, Red and Gold, Green and Gold, and Rainbow.

The Heddon bait was 4¾ inches long compared with the 5 inches for the DAM bait and this size accounted for the difference in weight.  The Heddon Baby Gamefisher was the same size as the small DAM Vampir but the DAM bait was heavier due to the nature of the slotted “V” construction.

Heddon dropped the Gamefisher from its catalogues in 1934 but DAM continued to produce them. DAM issued catalogue No. 25 in the late 1950’s and the Vampir was included but the company changed the number to model 1656 but dropped the smaller two section bait.

The Vampir was now only available in three colours Red with Silver Scale and black back, Blue with Silver Scale and Black Back, and Yellow with Gold and Dark Green Back. The weight had increased from 27 g to 30 g. and the L rig fitted to the pre-war models had been changed to the surface rig.

"L Rig" hardware used on the early years

Surface rig hardware from the 1950's

Due to the fact that the company could not issue a new catalogue every year a separate price list was issued. In the 1961 a new catalogue issue number 26 was issued and the Vampir had been dropped.

The third lure illustrated is model 3119 and looks to be an exact copy of the Creek Chub Company model 2400 Wigglefish, introduced in 1925.

Bass Wobbler model 3119 showing the slotted "V" body

When this lure first turned up some extraordinary prices were paid for them. (At the time was that they were thought to be prototype Creek Chub or Alcott Laight & Westwood manufactured by Creek Chub.

The reason was that it was the first time that the Wigglefish had turned up with no markings on the 1920 patented lip and in a different size.  

The truth is, in my opinion that Creek Chub like Heddon allowed DAM to manufacture the Wigglefish.

The bait was made in three sizes but only one colour Perch Scale, and was called the Bass Wobbler. The sizes were 3, 3½ and 4⅜ inches.

I believe that Creek Chub supplied the hardware for the baits and also a quantity of baits. The reason for this is that I have seen examples of all three sizes with the slotted “V” body. I also have an example of the standard Creek Chub bait 3½ inches with the inverted “V” body, no marking on the lip and in an Ever Ready box.

Pikie Wobbler model 3110

I will skip the fourth bait and look at the fifth bait model 3110. This looks like an exact copy of the Creek Chub Pikie and was called the Pikie Wobbler. It differed from the Creek Chub model in that the two sizes sold did not match any that the American company made, they were 3½ and 4⅜ inches long.

The colours offered were Blue and Silver, Yellow and Gold Scale, Brown and Gold, Green and Brown, White-Red and Silver, and Green and Black (Pike Scale).

The bait had the Creek Chub patented lip, double line tie and glass eyes. It did not reappear after 1939.

The sixth bait was a copy of the Heddon Vamp model 7500 and was available in the same colours as the Pikie Wobbler. This bait was called the Zyklop (Cyclops in English) Wobbler model 5290. It was introduced in 1936 and like the Heddon model it had a deep diving vane with the hook tie under the chin. It was not listed after 1939.

The fourth bait illustrated in the 1936 catalogue was model 3030 Piguin (Penguin in English) Wobbler. Sold in four sizes 1¼, 1¾, 2¼ and 3½ inches and looks to be a copy of the South Bend Bass Oreno. The catalogue states that the shape of the lure was a well established pattern with a zigzag motion.

Pinguin bait in Celluloid box

Pinguin bait in Celluloid box

Only one size compared exactly with the South Bends lure and I believe that theses baits were manufactured by DAM with no need to seek approval from the American company.

They were available in seven colours White and Red, White Red and Silver, Yellow and Orange, Yellow and Red Spotted, Green and Gold, Yellow with Red Spots and Dark Rib, and Luminous for night fishing.

This particular bait was the one that lead me to draw certain conclusions regarding a few mysteries that needed clearing up. I would ask you to bear with me while I explain the detective trail.

The Celluloid Wood Bait shown has the Pinguin Wobbler in it. If we look at the other boxed Celluloid bait we see a two section Wobbler.

Look at the Pike on the box top of the Celluloid bait and then look at the Pike on the box top of the Ever Ready bait. Same artist?

A pair of Tulsa Wobblers from the collection of Ron Handley in Goble & Celluloid boxes.

We then take it a little further and we see another Celluloid boxed bait from the collection of Ron Handley. Placed alongside this we see a Goble boxed bait and it is exactly the same bait as the Celluloid one.

Two section Wobbler in a Celluloid box.

Two section Wobbler in a Celluloid box.

Look at the two section bait, again this has the Creek Chub diving lip and two line attachment points. What makes this bait different from other is that it has the carved tail.

Creek Chub lip detail on the two section Celluloid Wobbler.

Look also at the picture of the Goble bait sold on eBay last year. We can clearly see a sticker MADE IN GERMANY. What’s going on? 

Two section bait in Goble box with MADE IN GERMANY sticker, sold on eBay.

Well the Goble bait company of Tulsa Oklahoma took out US patent 1,487,556 in 1922 for a two section bait. As far as I am aware this bait has never been found. Either it proved to be too expensive to make or it did not work. What the company need was as bait to sell.

Bert Goble did import baits and he went to DAM for his source. We will return to this subject in a future issue.

First published January 2004.

Lots of very nice items and hoepfully I will return with a few. For further details click HERE