Fly Tying Suppliers from Years Past

[BrookieChaser]

I have thread spools that say "Ed Koch's Yellow Breeches Fly Shop" and "Letort Brand Ed Koch Inc. Carlisle, PA". I've got various supplies stamped "Cold Spring Anglers", even a few fly boxes.

 

[dryflyguy]

I couldn't make out some of the names in the OP.

But did see a card from Fly Tyers "Vice".
I took a fly tying class there in 1985. And still have quite a few tying supplies from there.
Even my first vice - a Thompson 360 - which is stashed away in the attic now.
Also still have my original tube of Overtons wonder wax - from 35 years ago. Guess I got my moneys worth on that.

Sadly, Tony passed away several years ago

 

[Tack-L-Tyer]

Wapsi always seemed to run a square house and are still around I believe. Anyone familiar with “Gililands” pre-packaged materials? From jungle **** to badger, nutria, polar bear and on. Cellophane envelopes and reasonable prices for a school kid selling Cloverine salve and Grit.

 

[rrt]

Some nice memories here. I still have some Herter's spun fur on a card and other old cards from other places. I still use an old Herter's travel vise for the flies I tie when my wife makes me go on a "vacation" to the Eastern Shore each summer.

I also still use a trout size Herter's whip finisher on the heads of my flies. If I ever lose it or break it, I am in big trouble. I never learned to tie a whip finish knot by hand, and I have no idea how to use a modern whip finisher that doesn't even touch the head of the fly.

I also still use a Herter's bodkin to place the head cement on my flies.

Dating myself here, but I also remember when Flyfisher's Paradise opened its first fly shop in Lemont. I thought it was "heaven." I still have the remains of the first genetic neck that I bought there.

Sadly, I did not save any of my big Herter's catalogs, though I did save a blue Herter's sale catalog. I remember it taking six weeks or longer for an order to Herter's to arrive.

A lot of water has gone "under the bridge" since those early days.

 

[rrt]

And yes, I remember Gilliland's, too. I may still have the remains of a Gilliland package of golden pheasant. I got my Gilliland's materials at a store (a hardware store?) across the tracks in the Gaysport section of Hollidaysburg, Blair County.

 

[RLeep2]

Last year, I cleaned out and got rid of a pretty fair pile of old stuff last year or so. A bag of Herter's loose ginger neck hackles from 1966 or 67. A mole skin and some of those fake plastic jungle **** eyes from the early 70's. Several cards of Universal Vise embossed tinsel (actual metal) and yarn from the 60's some time. The tinsel was marked 10 cents/card. Some time in the 70's, I went kinda nuts on the photo-dyed dun India necks Eric Leiser used to sell out of Fireside Anglers, I think it was. I don't think the process was ever really a serious way to source these necks. Most of the ones I got were sort of the color of an army Jeep, kind of a dull olive dun. Kind of useless. Some I tossed, but I still have a few.

This most recent end of the world we are going through now might be a good time to go down there and do some more winnowing..

 

[Tigereye]

I have some Pflueger hooks. I think they are still around. The hooks are in little wooden vials with wooden cap.

 

[sandfly]

still haves lots of swannundaze for sale, have a large supply of honey bug saved. lots of older stuff for sale here.

 

[sandfly]

have some stuff from Nolls since I bought the building after he closed. I lived next door to him.

 

[sandfly]

Noll tied the flies for the pilots in the pacific for their survival kits. He had 8 women tying everyday.

 

[sandfly]

few of my collection

 

[Prospector]

sandfly wrote:
Noll tied the flies for the pilots in the pacific for their survival kits. He had 8 women tying everyday.

That’s an incredible piece of trivia!!

 

[Prospector]

dryflyguy wrote:
I couldn't make out some of the names in the OP.

But did see a card from Fly Tyers "Vice".
I took a fly tying class there in 1985. And still have quite a few tying supplies from there.
Even my first vice - a Thompson 360 - which is stashed away in the attic now.
Also still have my original tube of Overtons wonder wax - from 35 years ago. Guess I got my moneys worth on that.

Sadly, Tony passed away several years ago

Sorry about the picture quality. When I look at the original post from a desktop computer it’s oriented perfectly. When I look at it on my iPhone the picture is rotated to the right and squashed. Try clicking on the photo. That allows me to zoom in make it clearer.

 

[afishinado]

Great pics above from sandy.

I got a Noll fly tying kit for X-mas when I was 10 years old. Before that I used my father's bench vise down in the basement to hold hooks and tie flies. That kit started the whole obsession with tying and FFing for me way back in the day. Every so often I find in my tying desk some material that was included in that kit. I guess none of us ever throw out anything fly-tying related. Good stuff!

 

[laszlo]

I remember my Dad getting Dan Bailey's catalog and being amazed of page after page of flies. That's what got me interested in fly fishing back in the 60's.

 

[DaveS]

I have some old stuff here too. Kind of neat to see those things from yesterday year.

Guess that’s why I hang out here with some of you. 😉

 

[PennKev]

laszlo wrote:
I remember my Dad getting Dan Bailey's catalog and being amazed of page after page of flies. That's what got me interested in fly fishing back in the 60's.

The DB's catalogs had a staggering selection of flies into at least the late 90's or early 2000's. Those catalogs and Fly Fisherman magazine got me through many study halls and a few other class periods as well.

 

[shakey]

i have an embarrassing amount of vintage silk thread, and fly tying stuff in general.tons.

 

[dc410]

DaveS wrote:
I have some old stuff here too. Kind of neat to see those things from yesterday year.

Guess that’s why I hang out here with some of you. 😉

That little Pflueger split shot tin is really cool!

 

[JeffK]

Reed was my main source of materials in mid 60's. In pre-internet age waited 4 to 6 weeks for delivery by mail. When the box came from Reed Tackle it was like Christmas because I commonly forgot exactly what I ordered. Many suppliers had ads in sporting magazines and you would send in a quarter for a catalog. Taped the quarter to a piece of cardboard so it wouldn't get stolen. It would be a month to get the catalog and a month or more for delivery so the whole order process took a couple of months at least. Had to be sure that the winter delivery had everything you needed.

An older gent in my TU chapter lived near Reed Tackle and remembered in the Depression they sold dry fly hackle by the feather since kids couldn't afford necks. I'm not that old. We tied with a lot of pheasant tails, buck tails and muskrat fur since hunting and trapping were still common activities and we could always get fur scraps and pheasant skins. Bucktail streamers were the wooley buggers of my youth.

Bought my first decent rod blank (a Fenwick) in 1969 (I think). Couldn't afford a new Fenwick rod as a kid so saved up for a blank and parts.
Clemens was in Allentown and was mainly a mail order place. However, they were open on Saturday mornings in the winter to buy stuff in person. My mom drove me up one morning to buy my first decent blank. I sure did an ugly wrap, but loved that rod.

Still have a Herters catalog and another source was Jann's Netcraft, although they more towards nets and lure making when I was a kid. Could read those catalogs for hours on end, especially with the weird Herter's commentary. Herter dissed East Coast tiers all the time as just over fancy imitators of the Mid Western tiers. Like a rap battle.