HAPPY FATHERS DAY!!

This listing is a treat for the fly fishing enthusiasts on your Gift list . It is an Original Don Gapen Cedar Lure Box with a collection of over 60 vintage fly fishing lures.

Don Gapen of Anoka Minnesota Created the Muddler Minnow Fly Fishing Lure in 1937. Needing a place to keep his handmade Lures Don Gapen created this Cedar Box with magnets to hold the lures neatly in one place. Cedar wood was used because it keeps (real) bugs out and smells fresh!!! This Cedar Lure Box still retains its rich Cedar smell. The original magnetic boxes were made at the end of World War 11 and during the late 1940s. Red cedar is used for the body, aluminum hinges open and fold the two sided box with firmness and it has 5 magnetic strips that accommodates five-dozen files and a pair of magnetic posts that keeps the box locked tight when not in use. These were manufactured at a plant owned by the Otto Shaw family in Lapeer Michigan.

The box is wood burned with Don Gapen, Inc. (in cursive) Lapeer, Mich. Pat. Pend on one side, authenticating this is a box from the original 1940s production.

This lure box, and the amazing collection of lures, is in really nice vintage condition. There are surface scratches on the outside along with some spots in the varnish and nicks on the corners. Inside is really clean and everything works like a charm!

Included with the box are all the original lures found with it. There are around 65 Vintage Fly Fishing Lures.... maybe some are Muddler Minnows, I don't really know for sure. There are mostly flies made from a variety of materials including many kinds of feathers, squirrel fur, deer hide, different threads and wires and more. There are around 14 spider-like lures made from early plastic and some of that plastic is a bit brittle. Likely some of these lures are missing a feather or thread or something but overall they appear to be in really nice condition for their age.

What a piece of Americana!

Dimensions:
Box - 7"x 3 1/4" x 1"
Lures - range from 1/2" to 1 1/2"