Bait Buckets
Sometimes
ice fishermen maintained a small cache of live bait to augment
their
carved wooden lures.
This
bait was kept in small buckets which were dangled in the water with
a length of fine chain to keep the fish alive and ready for use. The
exterior decorations were quite elaborate and typical of manufactured
products of the period 1890-1920.
Cream
City Midget Minnow & Frog Bucket
Lake
Michigan, 1889, Mt. Clemens area, tin, steel and enamel,
10 inches in
diameter, 9 inches in height
Hemps
Floating or Sinking Minnow Bucket
Lake
Michigan, 1890's, Steel and enamel,
12 inches in diameter, 12 inches
in height
Climax
Floating Minnow Bucket
Lake
Michigan, 1890's, Steel and enamel,
9 inches in diameter, 10 inches
in height
The
wood and metal Boxes and Buckets created by the fishermen themselves
range from utilitarian to highly whimsical. The examples below were
collected in the Michigan area and range in date from 1880 to about
1920. Everything from minnows to leeches to crickets was fair game for
the
ice fisherman and their ingenuity.
Wood
and wire Cricket Box, with attached leather strap
Date Unknown, possibly 1920's.
Painted Pine and Window Screening,
14" Long, 5" high, 5"
deep
Pierced
Tin Frog Cage in the form of a House
Date
Unknown, probably 1880's, 14" high, 5" deep
Tin
and Wood Leech Bucket
Date
unknown, possibly 1880's, Collected Mt. Clemens, Michigan
10 inches in diameter, 9 inches in height
Painted
Wooden Cricket Box with attached leather straps
Date
Unknown, probably 1920. Painted oak and steel screening
Length, 14"
Height 8"
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