Heddon Manufactured Lures for "Non" Heddon Company's

  Heddon's goal was to sell as many lures as they possibly could.  Heddon not only made and sold lures for themselves they also made lures for other retailers.  All of these lures manufactured by Heddon and are of the same high grade quality just like all of their lures.  

  Lures with "unmarked Heddon Round End" style propellers are sometimes confused with South Bend minnows but the fact is that this style propeller is Heddon made.  As early as 1906 Heddon used "unmarked Heddon Round End" propellers on their round bodied lures that they made for other retailers and for themselves about 10 years before South Bend ever did.  South Bend's first use of this style propeller was around 1914.  It is a common mistake among collectors to mistake one of these Heddon lures for a South Bend lure.  I have witnessed these lures in collectors South Bend cases rather than in Heddon cases where they truly belong.

How to Differentiate between Heddon and South Bend Minnows -  It can be difficult to differentiate Heddon (V. L. & A., Tryon, Fletcher and Abbey Imbrie) minnows from South Bend minnows because they usually have the same basic propeller style, line ties and identical cup hook hardware.  The difference in these minnows can best be seen by the hook placement.  Heddon lures always had the left hook forward and South Bend minnows had the right hook forward.  

Hook Placement

  The lure on the left in the above photo was sold to me as a South Bend minnow.  The collector mistook this lure as a South Bend rather than Heddon because of the "unmarked Heddon Round End style propellers.  After a close inspection I discovered that this was a Heddon lure.  This is a mistake many collectors often make.  Hook placement would have better identified this lure as Heddon.  

"Unmarked Heddon Round End" Style Propellers    This propeller is Heddon made.  Heddon used this style propeller around 10 years before South Bend.  They have been found on Heddon lures and lures that Heddon made for "non Heddon company's such as V. L. & A., Tryon and the Fletcher company.

  In 1906 Heddon opened a factory in Chetek, Wisconsin.  This facility mainly manufactured high quality casting and fly rods and round bodied lures.  For a short time the Chetek factory made round bodied minnows for Heddon and other retailers.  Not all of the Chetek round bodied lures were painted at the Chetek factory.  The Chetek factory only painted the "Fancy Back" color and all the other colors were painted at the Dowagiac factory.  There were four distributors that Heddon made lures for which Mr. Clyde A. Harbin Sr. writes about in his Heddon Historical Footprints book and also discusses in great detail in his last video "volume 9" Heddon Historical Footprints.  The four "non" Heddon retail company's are as follows:

1. Abbey & Imbrie of New York and they called their minnow lures "Hiawathas".
2. Edw. K. Tryon Co of Philadelphia. They called their minnow lures "Kingfisher".
3. Von Lengerke & Antoine sporting goods of Chicago, Il. (V. L. & A) and called their minnows "Killer".
4. Fletcher Hardware Co. and they called their minnow lures "St. Clair".

Heddon Made - Abbey & Imbrie, Hiawatha Minnows

Heddon Made - Edward K. Tryon, Kingfisher Minnows

Heddon Made - VL&A, Killer Minnows

 These lures should be classified as "Heddon, Chetek" (Abbey & Imbrie), Heddon (Tryon), Heddon (V. L. & A.) and Heddon (Fletcher) lures.  These lures have round bodies, glass eyes, cup and screw hook hangers.  They have been found with single or double belly weights and all have forward and rear propellers.  These lures are highly collectible just as all Heddon lures.  

•   Almost all Heddon (Abbey & Imbrie) lures that were fitted with spinners can be identified by their thin propellers that usually have the words Abbey & Imbrie stamped on them.  Abbey & Imbrie stayed in business until 1930 when Horrocks-Ibbotson of Utica, New York purchased them.  In 1912 the 3 hook Hiawatha sold for 40¢ and the 5 hook sold for 55¢. 
•   Heddon (Tryon) lures can be distinguished by their round line ties and round tail hook hangers.  The Kingfisher lures have been found with either the no-name on prop Heddon propeller or the "unmarked Heddon Round End" style propellers.  Heddon also made a "Fat & Small" body #100 lure for the Edward K. Tryon Co.  In 1916 the 3 & 5 hook Kingfisher sold for 50¢.
•   Heddon (V. L. & A. and Fletcher) lures usually are found with "unmarked Heddon Round End" style propellers and the typical Heddon elliptical line ties and elliptical tail hook hangers.  A boxed (V. L. & A.) Killer lure was displayed at a 1996 FATC meet in Daytona Beach, Florida.  It had one belly weight, glass eyes, Heddon elliptical line tie and tail hook hangers.  The propellers were the "unmarked Heddon Round End" style propellers.  Another identifying mark are the gill marks.  The Killer baits had two gill marks vs the Heddon lures all had three gill marks.  In 1912 the 3 hook Killer sold for 35¢ and the 5 hook sold for 40¢. 

"Unmarked Heddon Round End" Style Propellers    This propeller is Heddon made.  Heddon used this style propeller at least 10 years before South Bend.  They have been found on lures that Heddon made for "non Heddon company's such as V. L. & A., Tryon and the Fletcher company.

A Few Examples of Lures that Heddon make for other Companies.

Heddon (V. L. & A. or Fletcher) Killer or St. Clair
	Killer or St. Clair   c.1909 lure has "unmarked Heddon round end" propellers with typical Heddon elliptical line tie and tail hook hanger.

Heddon  (EDW. K. Tryon) Kingfisher
	Kingfisher (c.1916)   This lure has "unmarked Heddon round end" propellers.  Note the round line tie and round tail hook hanger which identifies it as a Kingfisher.

Heddon  (V. L. & A.) Killers
	Killer (c.1912)   This is a 5 hook round body lure that has the typical Heddon elliptical line tie and elliptical tail hook hanger with "unmarked Heddon round end" propellers.  It has two gill marks under the eyes.
	Killer (c.1908) This is a 5 hook round body which has the typical elliptical Heddon line ties and two gill marks that extend under the eyes.  The color is Green "Fancy Back" which was the only color that was painted in the Chetek factory.

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