I ran across this fascinating article published in the Pampa News dated 04 April 1947, and it gave some interesting early history on one of my favorite lures--the Bomber. It was able to date the origination of the Bomber, a plug invented by Texan Ralph Wham, to the fall of 1944. It also notes that by Spring 1947 they were already making 1000 bombers a day -- a significant output for a lure that had yet to see national advertising! And one also has to love the title of the article--a Texas title if there ever was one!
Texans Responsible for Most Fishing Plugs -- Good and Bad
by Jack Rutledge
Get your fishing box. Pick out your favorite plug, the one you've had the most luck with, and take a good look at it. It probably was made in Texas.
A fast growing Texas industry has followed in the wake of increased interest in fishing--the manufacture of plugs, lures, flies and various types of artificial lures.
A gentleman in San Antonio makes such attractive flies that some women fishermen wear them as ornaments on their dresses. Over in Uvalde, Art Sansom and Hub Eoff have developed an artificial lure they call the "wonder bug," made of cellophane, colored nail polish and odd lengths of wire. In Sherman, a man makes what he calls the "whopper stopper."
But the largest such factory we've seen is the Bomber Bait Company in Gainesville, owned and operated by Ike Walker, John W. Parker, and C.S. Tuberville.
They have applied for a patent for both design and name--"The Bomber"--but in the meantime produce over 1000 bombers a day and are 400 dozen behind in orders.
The original design was whittled out by Ralph Wham three and a half years ago. It has been changed and improved upon (Parker, one of the owners, is a science teacher in high school) but it's still a lot like Wham's old bomber.
It was designed to get depth, and to wiggle under water while being retrieved. Fishermen will realize the value of both.
Parker says the bomber will go down as much as six(teen) feet, "down where the fish are," and while being reeled in, will remain about ten feet under water and "wiggle like hell."
They make it in one basic design, but in three sizes and 17 colors. Each individual lure requires about 24 hand operations before it's ready for sale, and has about eight different bits of wood and metal attached.
New machinery has been invented in Gainesville to speed up the process of manufacture. But it's still mostly hand work, like the eyes, which are of two colors--yellow with a black iris. They're made or painted on with a common nail. A worked dips the head into the yellow ink, applies to the lure, then dips the other end into black ink and dabs it in the center of the yellow.
The body of the bomber is made of cedar. It's a special type and Parker won't tell where he gets it. The paint used has been tested and won't crack. It has triple hooks.
This may sound like an advertising plug, but it's not. It's just a report on a plug that, Parker says, will catch fish when others won't because it goes down deep, it wiggles, and it floats.
He admits the most of the ideas fishermen have about pet plugs are just plain superstition, but that when it comes to the bomber, it delivers.
There must be some truth to his claim, because sales of the unadvertised, unpromoted artificial bait have extended into Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Missouri, Tennessee, New Mexico, Arizona, and, of course, all over Texas.
-- Dr. Todd
