The Homarth Company, located on Keystone at Prospect in Indianapolis, Indiana, made several antique wood fishing lures for a very brief period in the 1930s.
Some of the old fishing lures attributed to the company include the Jiggilo, Hoaxer and Doodlebug. These old wood lures are rare and especially tough to find with full paint.
The lures were packaged in a yellow/black cardboard box that came in 2 sizes. The company location is marked on the box as “The Homarth Co, Keystone At Prospect, Indianapolis, Ind”.
The Homarth Company produced a lure called the Doodlebug as well. The Doodlebug is a small wooden bug-like lure with either painted or glass eyes. The lip on this lure has a unique v-shape.
The Doodlebug lure was apparently a popular idea, though, as it was also produced by Joseph Neukam (Joseph’s or Jos Doodlebug) in Jasper, Indiana and I’ve found another version with “Brown PAT” stamped on the metal lip.
The Jos lure has a rounded tail with an unmarked metal lip. The Homarth lure has a pointed tail, a more pronounced indentation around the head and a metal lip stamped “Homarth PAT”.
This Doodlebug, stamped “Brown” on the lip, was found on a Falls City Bait Co. card. The Brown lure looks to be a copy of the Homarth lure, but with its own “Brown Pat” lip.
Please contact me if you have any information on the relationship between these Doodlebug companies.
Old Indiana Lures 