My closet collection (mainly because I haven't figured out how to properly display all of these things) is focused on antique Indigenous people's hooks and lures from all over the world. I mainly collect lures/hooks made from sea shells, turtle claws and native grasses (see photos) from the Solomon Islands and Marshall Islands, but as you can see, my collection is really varied. The first photo shows some of them against a green "A native of Australia" souvenir felt wall hanging my dad brought back from his deployment in the US Navy in the South Pacific during WWII. He went to Australia on R&R (hence, the wall hanging) but was involved in naval battles in the Solomons and Leyte Gulf. The two similar hooks are from the Northwest coast of the US and were made by Indigenous peoples there for catching halibut, circa 1880-1880. The large wooden hook is from the Pacific and was used for catching oilfish, or ruvettus. The two hooks with the typed page as a backdrop have a very tiny handwritten note attached that indicates who collected them and what museum they were in, many years ago.
Anyway, lots more detail with each of these hooks. I just appreciate the fact each one was made by hand by a person who, in many cases, was using available materials to make a tool they could use to catch food for their family. Often, hooks from the Solomons and Marshall Islands were handed down from one generation to the next, especially if the hook/lure had brought a lot of luck and big fish.
