|
The pre-1920 lure and box Collection of Michael Echols |
Early Heddon Box Identification1906 to 1930 |
Knowledge for Advanced Collectors of Heddon and Shakespeare
Heddon Pre-1930 Lure Boxes
by Michael Echols, copyright 2000
The tough question is always: What Heddon lure should be in which Heddon box? You have to be able to coordinate hardware, lure shape, box type, and the nomenclature to match up the correct lure with the correct Heddon box. If you are in the field or at a show and need this information, it can save your butt, not to mention your wallet.
Note: Some Heddon box information was drawn from discussions with various collectors; an article by Bruce Dyer in the NFLCC Magazine, 1993; Clyde Harbin's Historical Foot Prints book, Roberts and Pavey's Heddon Book, 2002.
See the page on identification of early Heddon lures by hardware and prop type.
Heddon Boxes:1903-1930
 |
1902-1905: Heddon Picture boxes: the 'vine or oak leaf' type border is earlier than the double straight line design. A 'Slopenose' box above, the 'Killer' below. |
|
1906-1911: Heddon White 'standard' cardboard and intro boxes: shows the later double straight line design. See article on lures which go in the white box. A 'standard' box above, and the Bucktail Surface Minnow in the middle, and the 900 'It Swims' introduction box below. |
|
1906-1913: Heddon White Musky Boxes, the earlier is marked "MUSKY" on top, and has a double blue line on the border. It is also marked Musky on the end. The later box (c. 1912-13) has the down leaping Bass logo printed, not pasted, on the top of the box which has a single blue line on the border. The later box is marked Musky on the end of the box. Both of these "MUSKY" boxes are marked for a 707 sienna lure. The same downleaping Bass labeled box was used for the Black Sucker and marked 1300. |
|
1905-1910: Heddon wood boxes (variations type 1 - 5): the more expensive line of lures were packaged in wood boxes, while the cheaper lines were sold in the white boxes. The top box is the early c.1903 'New' Dowagiac Minnow box. |
Click here for an extensive discussion of Heddon wood boxes
If you have boxes like those on this page, please get in touch with me to discuss their purchase and pricing.
|
1912: Pine tree cardboard box: marked on side with "Stamped on Spinners" Expect fat body 100's and 150's with long gill marks, cup rig, single belly weights, both name and no name on the props, but name on prop started in 1912. See article on lures which go in the Pine tree box. |
Heddon Dowagiac: Down leaping Bass boxes
|
1912 only: blue or white border; down leaping Bass box. Contains fat body lures with cup rig, sweeping gill marks, and no name on the prop. Click here to see the correct brochure paper for this box. Note the blue border around the box on the lower left and the white border around the lower box on the right. The outside rim of the box is blue on the blue border and the whole box is white on the white border. |
 |
 |
|
| Blue border box | White border box |
|
1912-@1915 Note on the side it says: "stamped on the Spinner"; down leaping Bass box |
|
1915-@1920 Note on the side it says: "stamped on the Metal"; down leaping Bass box |
|
1920-@1924 Note box is folded style with mis-print "is'nt"; down leaping Bass box |
|
1924-@1930 Note it's now 'Genuine" on top of box; down leaping Bass box |
Top: 1912-15 Middle: 1920-24 Bottom: 1924-30
Heddon Lures: 1905 to 1909
|
1905 High forehead 100 with brass hardware, two belly weights, long sweeping gill marks to eyes |
|
1906 same as above, only it has nickel hardware instead of brass |
|
1907 first version with blunt nose, except it's a little narrower and longer |
|
1908-9 blunt nose baits found in wood boxes |
Heddon 100: 1904 to 1912
Body anatomy and boxes used from 1904 to 1912
Heddon Paper
Sequences of paper brochures
|
Cover of the 1914 Heddon Catalog |
 |