Hand Tied Flies - Salesman's Sample plates

[gentleshepherd]

I was at an auction today and purchased 6 framed sets of flies.

I was told that they were part of a salesmans sample set.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

Photo attached.

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear gentlesheperd,

I'll be of no assistance in helping you find information but I wanted to commend you on your auction find.

Those flies remind me of the color plates in Ray Bergman's book, "Trout." They will definitely make a nice display piece.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[gentleshepherd]

Thanks Tim,

I would like to figure out a way to clean them up a bit, some of have been chewed on by critters and some of the backgrounds are dirty. Any guidance would be a help.

Im going to try to load them all up for you all to see.

 

[gentleshepherd]

Here are the other 5 plates that I purchased.

Has anyone ever seen anything like this before?

 

[sandfly]

do not do anything to them, just preserve them the best you can. if you try cleaning/restoring their value will drop...

 

[gentleshepherd]

Sandfly, Do yo uhave any idea what they might be worth or who made them? They are really neat looking especially the ones with the line hook eyes.

I'm guessing 1940's because one or two have some not too popular racist names.

I was thinking about maybe selling them on EBAY but I also might hang them in my office at work.

 

[sandfly]

hang them on the wall !! not sure who made them, is there any marks or names on them ?

 

[BradFromPotter]

I would contact Don Bastian. I bet he can help you. Here is his blog...
http://donbastianwetflies.wordpress.com/

or

http://www.myflies.com/Bio-Don-Bastian.aspx

 

[gentleshepherd]

Brad,

I did contact Don and he emailed me back! He was quite excited about my find and would like to see them.

I live in Shamokin and we do plan on getting together, possibly next month.

If he is excited, I am more excited!

Thanks for the lead.

 

[BradFromPotter]

gentleshepherd wrote:
Brad,

I did contact Don and he emailed me back! He was quite excited about my find and would like to see them.

I live in Shamokin and we do plan on getting together, possibly next month.

If he is excited, I am more excited!

Thanks for the lead.

Great! Don is a good guy. I thought you might have something pretty good there. If Don's excited then I would be too. Let's us know what happens.

 

[troutbert]

I saw a similar display of flies at Slate Run Tackle. I believe it was from a fly company operating out of Alexandria, PA. But other fly companies may have had similar displays.

 

[gentleshepherd]

Thanks! DOn had said that he saw similar items at the Slate Run SHop and they were now on loan to a fishing museum.

I am kinda stoked about him seeing these flies!

 

[IdratherbePhishing]

Yes do not get rid of those! Great find

 

[gentleshepherd]

Does anyone have a suggestion where I can get some shadowboxes that might look old. Maybe I wil have to custom make them out of old wood.