The lure pictured above is seemingly the same make as the Strike-Master Night Hawk that is pictured in Luckey's, 5th edition.(1) Luckey describes the lure:
"The top lure illustrated in the photo here is No. 6352 is 3-3/4" in length and has no eye detail. Note the notched mouth. During the Sure-Catch period, the company offered a similarly shaped model No.63; however the brochure shows glass eyes but does not illustrate the notched mouth. The No. 63XX was offered in colors No. 52 (white with black spots) and No. 46 (white with red head)."
The pictures here, in Luckey's book, and the spot pattern of Streater's photocopied catalog entry for the Night Hawk lure(2), suggest this form of the lure is the Strike - Master version of the Night Hawk and is not a Hoosier Bait ;^(.
However, other illustrations and details of the Night Hawk lure found in other fishing lure identification books indicate that there are several forms of the lure. White(3), and Murphy and Edmisten(4) show a "Night Hawk" bait that, compared to the lure pictured above, has a noticablly different shape and pattern. Indeed, Mr. Bourdon explains:
"Although Strike-Master lures were produced for a very short period, numerous variations of the same lure appear from time to time. A partial explaination would be that A.T. Death produced many of these designs in Union City before and possibly after the the Versailles facility's operation."(1)
Evidence for undocumented manufacture of A.T. Death baits is found in the next page of lure pictures.
-
1. - Identification and Value Guide: Old Fishing Lures and Tackle, 5th Edition.
-
Carl F. Luckey. 1999. Iola WI : Krause Publications. Page 609.
-
2. - Fishing Lure Collector's Bible.
-
Richard L. Streater, Rick Edmisten and Dudley Murphy. 1999. Paducah KY : Collector Books. Page 358.
-
3. - Fishing Tackle Antiques and Collectables: Reference and Evaluation of Pre-1960 Tackle. 3rd. edition.
-
Karl T. White. 1995. [Luther OK] : Holli Enterprises. Pages 117:C-13, 285:A-14
-
4. - Fishing Lure Collectibles. 2nd. edition.
-
Dudley Murphy and Rich Edmisten. 2001. Paducah KY : Collectors Books. Page 248.
|
