The William Shakespeare lures were made by one of the longest operating companies of the now classic lure makers. The Shakespeare Company was founded by William Shakespeare, Jr. in 1897. The company’s first lure was the called the Revolution. The first Revolutions were made of wood and then later the bodies were made of hollow aluminum. Shakespeare then made a couple of rubber lures. They were called the Sure Lure and the Evolution. In 1905, they acquired the rights to the Fred Rhodes wooden minnow patents. This is when we see the first Shakespeare wooden lures with glass eyes. The oldest lures have a see-through wire hook hanger design with small brass cups. The hooks were held through the body with a paper clip style design. Then in 1910, the through body design used a small flat plate to attach the hooks. This design was later followed by the normal cup and screw eye design to hold the hooks. William Shakespeare lures were later made with glass eyes and a natural paint design showing scale patterns and colors.
Examples of the wide range of lures made by Shakespeare can be seen in the photos below and in the 1909 Catalog at the bottom of this page.
The SHAKESPEARE Wooden Revolution, Circa 1900
The SHAKESPEARE Revolutions
The SHAKESPEARE Glass-Eyed Evolution
The SHAKESPEARE No. 12 Minnow and Wooden Box
The SHAKESPEARE No. 44GY Minnow and Box
The SHAKESPEARE No. 44 Minnows with Wire Hook Rig
The SHAKESPEARE No. 44 Minnow with Bar Hook Rig
The SHAKESPEARE No. 33 Torpedo
The SHAKESPEARE No. 03 Submerged Minnow
The SHAKESPEARE No. 43 Glass Eye Slim Jim
The SHAKESPEARE No. 43 Press Eye Slim Jim
The SHAKESPEARE No. 135 Darting Shrimp
The SHAKESPEARE Twin Minnow
The SHAKESPEARE No. 6508 and 6509 Fisher Baits
The SHAKESPEARE No. 6511 Plopper
An Early SHAKESPEARE Minnow Collection
A SHAKESPEARE Revolution and Evolution Lure Collection
SHAKESPEARE Ad in 1901 “RECREATION” Magazine
SHAKESPEARE Lures in 1918 Edwards & Walker Catalog Pages
The WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, JR. 1909 Catalog
The WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE 1927 Catalog
