AntiqueLures |
By Dr. Michael Echols
From the collection of Dr. Michael Echols
Rhodes frog in original wood box
Perhaps the hardest early boxes to acquire are the intro boxes used by Shakespeare in the c. 1902-1910 era. What follows are some of those boxes and lures which over-lapped with Shakespeare from the Rhodes era. Some of them are not pretty sights, but they are beyond rare.
Rhodes minnow and Rhodes 'Killer'
Rhodes and Shakespeare yellow minnows
Shakespeare Sur-Lure with picture box
More Early Shakespeare Lures and Boxes
The photos are not in chronological order.
Click on the photos to enlarge them
| This white Slim Jim intro box is shown with the correct lure. It has the vertical strips on the sides of the body, gem clip hardware, and "A" type props. It is believed to have been introduced in 1907. |
|
| This baby Revolution with Mickey Mouse props and in the intro box is first seen in the 1902 Shakespeare catalog. There are three basic sizes of Revolutions, this being the smaller. |
|
| The New Shakespeare Whirlwind intro box, c.1909, is very scarce. Note the extension behind the prop which indicates the early version of this lure. The later version has a shorter shank in the back. Colors offered were red, yellow, and white. |
|
| The Shur-Lure box above has silver lettering and drawing on a black box which is shown in the 1902 catalog. The lure disappeared from the catalogs in 1924. |
|
Rare doesn't cover this piece. It is a first version of the Rhodes Mechanical Frog in the intro box. Note that it indicated the Kalamazoo Fishing Tackle Co. which was Rhodes' company and was bought out by Shakespeare. There is a later version of this cardboard box and then the wood box Shakespeare version came along in the 1910 era. |
|
This Kazoo intro box, c. 1907, is the only one known to exist to the best of my knowledge. The lure has screwed in hook hangers, glass eyes, and the usual poor paint quality associated with the earliest Kazoo minnows. The glass eyed Kazoo came in two colors: green back with white and red back with white. There are later Kazoo's with a metal tack eye. |
 |
This 1909 rubber frog has the weed guard between the legs and a notched prop. Prior to this version there is the 1902 rubber casting frog with no prop. In about 1905 a Shur Lure type prop version was sold which preceded the Rhodes mechanical frog. The 1909 version above was re-introduced as the Shakespeare weedless Frog #4. |
|
Rreturn to Shakespeare Index
A FULL TOPICAL INDEX FOR ANTIQUELURES
A LIST OF ALL EARLY FISHING LURES IN THIS COLLECTION
