Horton Advertising
Undoubtedly the greatest advertising by any fishing tackle company was the
wonderful graphic posters and calendars of the Horton Manufacturing Co, for
their Bristol Steel Rods. They commissioned two of the finest outdoor
illustrators ever, Oliver Kemp and Philip R. Goodwin to paint most of their
calendars. These illustrations were subsequently printed as "art
prints", postcards, and cover illustrations for their catalogs. Some of the
catalog covers are full color paintings that were never used in any other form,
but some were made into advertising decals.
One of the great features of the
Horton ads was the use of women in fishing scenes. Of the 15 calendars that
Horton had nine of them featured women. They also used scenes with women in them
in many of their posters and catalog covers.
Horton also produced outstanding
magazine advertisements with wonderful illustrations. These were also drawn by
noted illustrators, among them William Schaldach. However, they didn't stop
there. Horton also came out with small tin signs that hung on the walls of many
sporting goods stores of the period. They all had the same general Bristol Rod
logo, but were produced in several sizes and colors.
The E. J. Martin
Company, of Kingfisher Line fame, was purchased by Horton in 1920. Martin had
produced at least one poster prior to the sale, and Horton continued the
practice with a terrific Kingfisher Fishing Line poster.
To get a glimpse at
the wonderful advertising of the Horton Manufacturing Co., just
click below.
