I have been approached by quite a few people interested in collecting American plugs and lures. The most commonly asked questions are where I start followed by what a good make is to collect.
Just like Hardy in England, James Heddon in America is well documented. Thousands of people only collect lures by Heddon. The company was founded by James Heddon around the turn of the century in Dowagiac Michigan. James was a talented and diverse character. In the field of beekeeping, he was recognised as an expert and inventor. He became Mayor and published a newspaper.
The story of how the plug started is very famous and I repeat it. James Heddon was waiting by a lake one day for a fishing friend to arrive. To while away the time, he started to whittle on a piece of wood. When he had finished, he threw it into the water. The story goes that a big Bass attacked the piece of wood with such ferocity that it was knocked into the air.
Had a hook been fitted to the plug the fish would have ended up on the table. He did however hand carve some frogs. The exact number is unknown but there are believed to be less than ten authenticated ones. These are so rare and valuable that when sold they fetch thousands of dollars.
1902 is regarded as the date when James Heddon started to work in the kitchen of the house producing plugs
It was obvious that this situation could not continue in this way. So, he rented a small upstairs room in Dowagiac at 303 Green Street where he was joined by his son William. Gradually the operation expanded, and larger premises were obtained.
In 1903 a catalogue was produced that read James Heddon and Son. This changed to Sons in 1908 when Charles Heddon joined the company. Will and his wife Laura moved to Mineola in Florida where they experimented with a wide variety of lures. They were both expert anglers and worked well as a team. New lures were continually developed.
Charles was the one with the business acumen and this was the ideal set-up for the company. Like Hardy Brothers in England, various members of the family contributed their particular skills.
Marketing was Charles’s strong point and he quickly set up a dealer network with salesmen all over the country. Expert anglers were employed to demonstrate the lures being used. Repeat the message long enough and people start to believe. Use Heddon lures and you will catch fish.
In 1911 James Heddon died. Will continued to look after the research and development in Florida, whilst Charles took over the complete running of the company. The company then became known as James Heddon’s Sons.
The more people who fished with the lures, the more fish caught; the more fish caught, the more people decided to use them. In 1950 the company was making more than 12,000 lures per day.
Charles died in 194l when his son John assumed the job of president of the company. Will continued his work in research and development until 1945. The company is now owned by Pradco.
Without a doubt, with such a vast range of lures having been made for many years, there is plenty of choice when selecting what to collect. The advantage for many of us is that it is possible to acquire good boxed examples for only a few pounds. If you have thousands of pounds to spend you could buy an original frog, if you can find a seller.
Heddon exported their lures all over the world so they could turn up anywhere. One good bait to collect is the River Runt Spook. This was, in 1939, the biggest-selling bait in America.
There are hundreds of different ones to collect due to the various models and colours that it was made in. In the next issue, there will be a complete article on this very popular and collectable bait. Hopefully, this will inspire some of you to start collecting this plug.
February 1997.