The product history of this early lure
company unfolds through their single price sheets & catalogs. Although
these printings are the basis of some confusion, they offer the most
accurate method to date the myriad series & colors offered by Creek
Chub. These CCBCo price lists range from a 1916 one-page flyer to extensive
catalogs printed in the 1920's through the early 1950's; ending with
a smaller format used from the late 1950's to 1978/'79.
Most collectors are content to own a
few of these catalogs & flyers due to their expense & rarity. Therefore
it isn't always possible to know the entire production history of a
particular lure or color. Before, no one has attempted to assemble all
of this information into one easy-to-read listing. Altogether, it has
taken several years to locate CCBCo publications from many sources plus
untold hours to actually enter the data. Now, collectors can decide
at a glance if a color is a catalog color or a "Special" within a particular
series.
Research this complex seldom develops
without some speculation & logical conclusions. One of the dilemmas
of correctly dating series & colors stems from the actual CCBCo publications!
Pre-1922 offerings were generally undated except for testimonial letters
from satisfied customers. These letters were sometimes used for more
than one catalog so other clues such as lure colors & newly introduced
series must also be taken into account to correctly date the printing.
Some early price sheets had more than one edition for the same year.
Also, should an offering with a customer testimonial from October 1918
be considered a 1918 issue or was it released in 1919? Another example
is a 1945 catalog recently studied. It has an August 1946 price sheet
inserted & a 1947 sticker on the cover that hides the original
printed date! Where does a researcher enter these series & colors: 1945,
1946, or 1947? Actually this practice wasn't unusual for CCBCo due to
the enormous expense of printing the all-color price lists. Leftover
catalogs were sent out with updated tip-ins, newer price sheets, & a
dated sticker on the cover that hid the original date. This has caused
modern CCBCo researchers more than a little confusion. Some lures were
produced in wood and/or plastic. You might encounter baits with glass
or tack or painted eyes, depending on the series & time of production.
There are many other production variations observed by today's tackle
collectors but no attempt has been made here to list the years they
were made. Consult my other site pages for this information.
A compilation of this size will surely
have many interpretive & some actual errors. Please contact the author if
you can document any needed changes.
- There was a limited production into early 1979 but for all practical purposes most production was over when the company sold to new owners in 1978.
- These are all original series catalog baits & all the catalog colors in which they were made until 1978/79 .
- The numbering is based on a revised system adopted by CCBCo in 1925. Many baits & colors were made before this date. The catalog codes for colors are often different in the 1916-1924 price lists but have been converted in this study for the purposes of clarity.
- #13 Black is listed in the 1960 catalog. An attached catalog flyer states that any series offering a #13 Black is also available in #33 Black Scale.
- The lures listed here are wooden examples unless noted. Some colors were produced in plastic ONLY and are included for the sake of showing a complete color set within a particular series. Check one of my other studies, "The Late Years", to see which colors were made in wood AND plastic.
At times, a series was first offered in national tackle periodicals before it appeared in a CCBCo catalog. It's virtually impossible to locate every tackle-related publication printed from 1916-1978/'79 to verify if a Creek Chub lure appeared there first. Therefore, most of the introductory dates for lures are based on CCBCo's full size catalog or other Creek Chub ephemera, for the sake of continuity. |
