"CreekSpeak"
1923 CCBCo Store Counter Top Sign
This rare sign is very similar to the cover of the 1923 Creek Chub catalog. The artist who designed the cover simply deleted part of the text at the bottom of his catalog rendering and replaced it with a likeness of a Polly Wiggle and a Flat Side Chub (Injured Minnow) plus the names of these two lures. “New Ones” was entered below the bait illustrations.
This modification of the 1923 catalog cover art and the two lure illustrations listed as “New Ones”  (which were also first offered in 1923), confirms the production date of this counter sign.
It’s sensible that a small company such as Creek Chub would double up on expensive original art by using this design (with slight modifications) for more than one purpose. In fact, CCBCO later used art that remained unchanged for their 1940 to 1951 catalog covers. They simply changed the date on the cover from one year to the next.
The back of the sign has a cardboard easel and a label added by the maker of the sign. The printer was in Ft. Wayne, not far from Garrett, Indiana. The printing process was patented in 1918.
If this sign is viewed at an angle one will notice the oil colors are layered over each other. Apparently, the colors were applied one at a time similar to stone lithography.  Evidently, this was an expensive process because Creek Chub eventually had their signs printed by a more economical photomechanical process.

Previous Page