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James Heddon & Son's. Heddon Wood Lures.

James Heddon, originally a beekeeper, the legend has it that James Heddon while waiting for his friend was carving on a stick of wood. When his friend had arrived, James threw the carved plug sized stick of wood off into the water. When the stick hit the water, James observed a huge bass burst up & hit the stick. That’s the moment when the light went on and the idea for a new fishing lure was inspired. A year later, James created the Dowagiac Casting lure, a topwater bait design and the beekeeper's first official lure. The Heddon Company was established in 1902, & James Heddon carving his fish catching lures by hand at his kitchen table. The company signed a deal with a Canadian sales supply company in 1910 & added a factory in Dowagiac, Michigan. Unfortunately, James Heddon died in 1911, however his sons, Will and Charles, were inspired to continue the fishing equipment business & led it to become an industry leading giant. The company kept growing and by 1950, the company was producing more than 11,000 units a day. By this time, Heddon also produced reels, rods & other general fishing equipment. The first officially marketed lure by the Heddon Company the famous Dowagiac Casting Bait. Known by the nickname Slope-nose because of the lures blue slanted nose. The lure features a white body and two hooks, & anglers will find this classic lure is still a deadly lure. The Heddon Company continued producing their popular Dowagiac Minnow into the 1950s. In 1955, Will & Charles Heddon sold the company to the Murchinson family, this due to tough competition by several other companies along with a desire to leave the industry while their company still had value. The Heddon Company was purchased by several other owners, before it ended up part of EBSCO. A vintage fishing lure collection can not be complete without several old Heddon lures in it. With timeless style, legend & quality, Heddon fishing lures are a must in any collection. 

Introduced in 1940 as the Punkinseed, this great lure in our collection is Amazing! This 730 Sinking XRW White Shore color Seed is beautiful. This one is from the mid 1940's around the transitional period with the hardware, however the body shape is slightly larger than the XRY the 730 did have two sizes. This seed is an absolute beauty still has the belly weight paint intact and in superb condition.

730 Wood Punkinseed in Sunfish Color. This cool seed was recently added to our collection with another of the same color, however this one is set up in all surface hardware! This old wood lure left the shop as a sinker dressed in surface gear. Yes, old wood 730 Punkinseed lures can be found in all surface hardware. This one is in great shape and a perfect add to our growing collection.

740 BGL Punkinseed in Bluegill Finish. The Heddon 740 was introduced in 1940 as the "Floater" It was counter weighted to make the lure sit at the surface. These remarkable lures with the lifelike sunfish design were offered in a variety of great colors to choose from. The 740 with the line tie under the chin did not last long making these lures extremely collectable. Always a fun lure to talk about and one that is quickly recognized in any collection.

740 ROB Punkinseed in Rock Bass Finish. A lighter variation of our other Rock Bass colored 740. The Heddon 740 ROB is one of the tougher of the 740 colors to find, we found 2 with varied differences in color. Finding one with a Brush Box is even tougher. The 740 with the line tie under the chin did not last long, the ROB color was one of the early colors to be gone. This fantastic lure is in great shape just missing the belly weight paint. Always look for colors even if you have a particular color there are always variations making each lure extremely collectable. (SOLD)

Introduced in 1940 as the Punkinseed, this great lure in our collection is a stunner! This 730 Sinking XRY color Seed is beautiful and appears to have never hit the water. This one is from the mid 1940's around the transitional period with the hardware, however the body shape is older not yet rounded like the 9630 that would later replace the 730 sometime around 1949-50. This seed is an absolute beauty still has the belly weight paint intact and in superb condition, it's a real favorite for us.

730 Wood Punkinseed in Sunfish Color. A variation in color from the other 730 Sunfish we have. And unlike the other this one is in Transition Hardware.  Each one of these lures is unique and collectable with different hardware and coloring differences. Collecting Heddon Punkinseed lures is an endless fun challenge. This one is in great shape and a perfect add to our growing collection.

740 ROB Punkinseed in Rock Bass Finish. The Heddon 740 ROB is one of the tougher of the 740 colors to find. Finding one with a Brush Box is even tougher. The 740 with the line tie under the chin did not last long, the ROB color was one of the early colors to be gone, making these lures extremely collectable. We are hunting for a Brush Box correctly marked 740ROB box with catalog. Always a fun lure to talk about and one that is quickly recognized in any collection.

740 Punkinseed in Early Shad Color. This is another fantastic lure and color added to our collection. The 740 in Shad also has variations be on the lookout for 740 series Punkinseed lures when you have a chance to get them do your best to acquire them. They are more expensive but worth it, these are not an easy find anymore. This lure is in great shape just missing some belly weight paint. We are always looking to add great lures like this to our collection.

Grey F 4000 GM  Meadow Mouse. This 1940's era Mouse is preserved complete with leather ears, tail and correct box and paperwork. The Flocked Mouse was listed as new in 1934, with the Meadow Mouse series going back to 1929. Our lure is in excellent condition with a Brush Box 2 and correctly marked. A fantastic add to our collection.

Heddon Zig-Wag #8300 in Pikie Scale with L-Rig Hardware and Glass Eyes, this series introduced in 1928. The Zig-Wag when introduced was listed and the "Improved" Zig-Wag. Heddon may have been field testing this series for a year or two. This one comes with the Zig-Wag belly stencil a really cool old classic.

Here is a 2120 Heddon Crazy Crawler in XBW color with three color eyes and a nice Moustache! This lure never hit the water and is preserved in amazing condition. This is an earlier 2120 with the three color eye paint, it's surface rigged, many variations exist, the earliest of these have Donaly hardware. Collecting these great lures is always fun and interesting.

Introduced in 1915 the Baby Crab Wiggler measured in at 3 inches and went through some changes during it's run in production from 1915 to 1939. My wife salvaged this lure and cleaned it up, it dates to the very early 1930's  due to hook attachment hardware and color. 

Brown F 4000 BM  Meadow Mouse. This 1940's era Mouse is preserved complete with leather ears, tail and correct box and paperwork. The Flocked Mouse was listed as new in 1934, with the Meadow Mouse series going back to 1929. Our lure is in excellent condition with a Brush Box 2 and correctly marked. Amazing add to our collection.

Heddon Jointed Swimming Vamp #7300 in Pikie Scale with L-Rig Hardware and Glass Eyes. Introduced in 1927-28, a classic Heddon Creation. The older Swimming Vamps like this one come with the single bar joint connector. This very old specimen has Dowagiac engraved on the lip. An old lure with a lot of class.

Introduced in 1941 the 2120 Heddon Crazy Crawler 2 1/2 inch body, was a 1/4 inch smaller than the 2 3/4 inch 2100 introduced in 1939/40. Our 2120 is a late 1940's era Bull Frog color with 1940's era surface hardware. The wood Crazy Crawler would last until 1957 when the Plastic Spook version of the Crazy Crawler took over.

Early pre 1920 Crab Wiggler 1800 in Fancy Greenback. The 1800 series Crab Wiggler was introduced in 1915, the early versions were 4 1/2 inch and 9/10 of an ounce, like this one shown here. They featured the "U" shaped collar and the Worm line tie. 

Introduced in 1952 the Go Deeper Crab was similar in size to the Baby Crab Wiggler but instead of a collar featured a Deep Diving lip and also had an optional spinner blade attached.

More great Heddon Lures coming soon.
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