Description: AW431 “Indian Joe Spinner”. and the Legend! An old, vintage fishing tackle lure with a “story to tell”! Interesting & unique! These spinner lures show up occasionally here in WNY. Always loose, but I’ve been fortunate enough to find three on their original cards! This listing is for a duplicate of one on a card. The card is faded, but readable, and as I said, I've only found THREE carded in a lot of years collecting! Collectors seem to be at a loss for any information, except that they were called “Indian Joe Spinners”. After talking online and at collector shows and with an “old-timer”, a “legend” seems to have evolved that bears some merit. If you enjoy the history of old fishing tackle, this is a great piece for your collection! It would seem that the original spinners were being handmade by a Native American named Joseph on a reservation in NY, possibly Western NY. The blades were carefully hand punched, soldered, and shaped, then the hooks hand-snelled with red thread to the rig. Obviously meant to be used with bait. The blade had an unusual shape- look closely. They had a unique flash! Well, the maker was selling them to local fishermen and was doing quite well! Fishermen were calling them “Indian Joe Spinners”! He began selling them to bait shops! He got others to help him make the spinners to keep up with the demand! At this point, he may have started putting them up on simple cards hand stamped in red with “Indian Joe Spinner”. The notoriety of the spinner spread! Eventually they caught the attention of a commercial lure making company, possibly in Northern NY, who changed the design just a bit and started making them and putting them up on fancy, professional cards. They also made one for use with minnows. The company either paid Indian Joe for the right to use his name and to make them (unlikely since they were never patented!) OR they simply robbed his design and name and sold them without any compensation to the originator. That might explain why the fancy cards did not include the name of the company, for fear of a lawsuit? Conjecture? Yes, at least some of the story… but it certainly makes a good “Legend”! By the way, I was showing a loose one at a collector’s show one time. It was recognized by an old fisherman! He told me they were called just “Indian Joe Spinners” and that he could remember going to the reservation to buy them from… Indian Joe himself! Look closely at the close-up pic, it’s faded, but you can make out the “Indian Joe Spinner” name on the card of the one I’m listing here.. This offering is for the one carded spinner only at the top pf the pic of three! Well, enjoy this lure! And help keep the Legend of Joe Indian alive! It certainly has a most unusual and interesting history!
Price: 36 USD
Location: Hamburg, New York
End Time: 2024-12-08T17:58:45.000Z
Shipping Cost: 5 USD
Product Images
Item Specifics
All returns accepted: ReturnsNotAccepted
Brand: Creek Chub
Material: Wood
Vintage: Yes
