Great Fishing Tackle Catalogs of the Golden Age [Paperback]

Samuel Melner (Editor), Hermann Kessler (Editor), Sparse Grey Hackle (Introduction)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1999

Osgood's Folding Canvas Boat, African Steel Vine rods, the Prevost Patent Combination Frog Hook (with illustrations to demonstrate the jigging action of a hapless frog), Sportsmen's Tumblers and Drinking Cups, William Mills' offering of Wood's Improved Lollacapop, the Greatest Known Antidote for Mosquitoes, and the Smoker's Head Protector--from the venerable Fitch Company--a mosquito netting made of knitted horsehair with a self-closing valve into which a pipe may be inserted. And don't forget Imported English Deer Fat for dressing enameled silk lines. Here are the predecessors of contemporary gear as well as some of the tried-and-true equipment still in use today, such as the Orvis perforated reel, invented for its light weight and for drying silk fly lines on the reel. And the prices are unbelievably low! Anglers of all varieties will find this book unique, absorbing, and hilarious.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A fascinating look into fishing technology at the turn of the century. Old Engravings and Illustrations Throughout.

From the Back Cover

Here is a marvelously full and nostalgic collection of the most interesting pages from such outstanding old catalogs of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries as those of Orvis, Abercrombie & Fitch, Sears Roebuck, Montgomery Ward, William Mills, the House of Hardy, L.L. Bean, and scores of others.Mail-order catalogs were (and still are!) the fisherman's opium. Here - in the fine free frenzy of bygone copywriters' prose - are old rods and reels, Rube Goldberg gadgets brought to market with the blast of trumpets, "African Steel Vine" rods and other absurdities, belt worm-boxes (for some reason labeled in French), and a host of other perfectly delicious items - at deliciously low prices.Great Fishing Tackle Catalogs of the Golden Age is a fascinating look back into the past that is sure to delight anglers young and old. (8 1/2 X 11, 352 pages, b&w reproductions)

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: The Lyons Press; 1st edition (April 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1558219021
• ISBN-13: 978-1558219021
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,610,012 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)