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Over a Century of History

Enjoy a few snippets from a D.H. Thompson catalog used in the late 40's and early 50's.
We have even included those early day prices!

The D.H. Thompson Catalog circa late 40's early 50's

The old D.H. Thompson manufacturing
facility was located in Elgin, Illinois,
335 Walnut Avenue to be more precise. No
zip code was required then; there were
none. The catalog featured the book
'Fly-Tying' by William Bayard Sturgis.
A mere $3.50 could have landed you one
of the classics in fly-tying literature.

The Original D.H. Thompson Model "A" Vise, $6.00

The catalog describes the Model "A" as the
incomparable tool for the fly tyer. And such
a bold statement as what follows, still holds
true today: "We believe that no possible
expense could provide a practical
improvement on this tool".

There were other Thompson Vise models
creatively named models "B" through "F"
and even a Field Vise
that screwed into any log or piece of wood.

Model "B" - $3.50
Model "C" - $2.25
Model "D" - $2.35
Model "E" - $1.50
Model "F" - $1.65
Model "G" - $1.50

Junior Waxer
$1.75

The catalog explains how to
do it. "A lump of wax can be
held against the thread
between the two spools in
the usual hand waxing way
and, as the crank is turned
winding the thread from the
supply spool onto the
Bobbin needle spool, the
thread is rapidly waxed."

Electric Wax Pot
$5.25

The catalog reads "For
those tyers who use a lot of
tying thread and want the
waxing to be fast and
thorough. The wax pot plugs
into any 110-volt lighting
circuit..."

Hacle Pliers
$0.40

Even back in the 40's, D.H.
Thompson was innovating
and re-engineering the
hackle pliers. In the clip to
the right, the drawing shows
a variegated jaw and a
rubber-lined jaw. A concept
used and copied by many to
this day.

© 2001 d.h. thompson & di:gnosis