Deconstructing Old Ads with Bill Sonnett:
The Knickerbocker
From the January 1924 Sporting Goods Journal come this full page ad for what many consider to be the aristocrat of tackle boxes, the "Knickerbocker Tackle Case." If you have seen one of these at the shows, you know that it is a leather covered affair, very well made. I've wondered how a leather ccovered tackle box would hold up while fishing in the rain. The other question that comes to mind while looking at this ad is what connection if any did this company have with the South Bend Bait Co.? If you look carefully you will notice that every bait and piece of equipment in the tackle box wears the South Bend label.
Flash forward to 1955. The "Popular" Knickerbocker is still shown the William Mills & Son catalog. $60 is a lot of money for a tackle box in 1955. This probable explains when these are fairly scarce today. Notice also that in the second ad the Knickerbocker is no longer loaded exclusively with South Bend Tackle.
-- Bill Sonnett
