Lauby & Earl Gresh lures; indigenous hooks, lures

[Mike N]

I’ve always appreciated Lauby lures made in Wisconsin in the 1930s. Anton Lauby’s sons and daughters did most of the carving and painting early on before the company grew to 35 employees, an amazing feat during the Great Depression. The company was later sold to Albert Bates in 1939. A few Lauby lures just sold at the Gettysburg NFLCC auction which I could not attend. Anyways, here is my collection to date. Please contact me if you have any for sale or trade. Thanks.

[Mike N]

I was lucky enough to add a nice red/white chunk bait and a large black/white wooden spoon to my Lauby collection this week. Both are in really great condition.

[RonG]

Nice collection Mike. I also collect some lures. Mostly by those from Earl Gresh. A long time ago I got tired of waiting for a nice KY reel to show up, so I branched out to look for some lures. And yes, I have Gresh's personal fly reel. Show us your lures.

[Richard Lodge]

Fabulous collections, gentlemen! Having Gresh's personal fly reel in that display clinches it for me, Ron. Nice!

[Mike N]

We each need to get back to having at least one of our personal reels engraved and hope that 50 years from now someone finds it interesting. Cool collection, Ron.

Mike N

[Richard Lodge]

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.

[Mike N]

Oh my, Richard. That’s beyond cool. Just so much history right there…

[RonG]

Now that's what I call an interesting collection. Seeing all the variations and their details makes you appreciate their beauty.