Rural Missouri - July 2022 - 41

White, represent 75 years of collecting the history of angling.
Some of the oldest items are Buel Trolling Spoons
that were patented in 1852. Julio Thompson Buel, born in
1806, loved to fish. During a bait-fishing trip, he ate his
lunch while his boat drifted. The boat bumped against a
rock, causing him to drop the spoon he was using into the
lake. He watched the spoon spiral down toward the bottom
and was surprised to see a large fish swoop down and grab
the shiny object.
" Legend claims he had longed to catch one of the large
trout he'd been told existed in the lake, hurried home
and snatched another spoon, " Bill says. " He sawed off the
handle, soldered a hook to the concave side, and drilled
a hole in the handle stump. Next day he tied a line to his
creation and put it in the water, rowing back and forth
across the lake until he'd caught a large trout and then a
second trout with his new trolling spoon. "
Julio started making lures for other anglers and eventually
opened a shop to sell the first fishing spoons. He
crafted spoon-shaped blades out of nickel silver, painted
the convex side red, and attached treble hooks and feathers.
By 1827 he continued to craft his lures and improve
them, but he only sold a few.
His fortunes changed when sports writer Frank Forester
wrote about the spoons in his book " Warwick Woodlands "
creating an overwhelming interest in this angling breakthrough.
J.T. transformed his furrier business into manufacturing
fishing lures in 1848, and the fishing spoons we
use today were born.
" Like any industry, some stories are sad, " Bill says.
" Lures like the Pontiac Radium Minnow were hand painted
and part of the delicate work entailed moistening the tip of
the brush between the lips to paint better details. Artists
used a luminous paint that contained radium, the same
that was used on watches and compass faces. "
This dangerous paint glowed in the dark without being
exposed to light and was radioactive and deadly if ingested
or inhaled as fine dust. Many that used these paints
eventually died horrible deaths. Rumor has it that a Geiger
counter will tick over their graves this many years later.
Other items from this world-class collection include
spike reels from the 1730s, which were among the first
ever made in Europe and later used by American anglers.
" The Snyder Reel from 1840 is the first casting reel
made in the United States by George Snyder from Paris,
Kentucky and one of our most rare pieces, " Bill says, adding
the reel is one of only four known to exist among collectors.
" Mr. Snyder, a watchmaker and silversmith, made
Right: Among more than 40,000 pieces of fishing and tackle history
on display in the museum are the Welsh & Graves Minnow Tubes manufactured
by New Yorker Calvin V. Graves in the late 19th century. The
glass tubes held live minnows. Top: The museum houses an impressive
collection of fishing boat motors and even the boats themselves. This is
an early wooden Skeeter model - one of two on display including the
first rolled off the assembly line.
JULY 2022 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP 41
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Rural Missouri - July 2022

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