Upper views: three sizes and paint treatments, as photographed. View full size

Underside views: body contours, attachments and hooks are visible. View full size

Wonder Spoon · photographic comparison

Wonder Spoon

Upper and underside photographs make the construction as interesting as the paint.

Existing attribution: The filenames and existing website identify this group as Wonder Spoons. This is a photographic group record, not three authenticated object records.
Visible evidence: The upper image shows a multicolored example with a red feather tail, a red-and-cream example with a feather tail, and a yellow-and-black example with an exposed treble hook.
Strongly supported inference: The two photographs appear to show the same three examples, based on their appearance and attachments; the pairing has not been independently confirmed.

Still to be establishedIndividual lengths, dates, original components, and matches to the now-reviewed 1939 catalog remain to be established for the photographed examples.

Sources & record notes

1939 catalog reproduction: Slusar, pp. 369–371

Photographic or documentary record LLA-REC-0003 · Reviewed September 2026. Record identifiers describe the material shown here; they are not accession numbers for authenticated physical objects.

Back to the collection

Provenance

The photograph is retained from the earlier Lauby Lures website. The original photographer and capture date have not been established.

Use the identification guide to record measurements, markings and missing views. Measurements and originality remain unverified for the examples on this page.

Cite this record

Lauby Lures. “Wonder Spoon.” Record LLA-REC-0003. Updated September 13, 2026. https://www.laubylures.com/collection/wonder-spoon. Accessed [your access date].

Publisher: Lauby Lures. Submit a correction or additional evidence.

Physical-object documentation

This is a photographic record; no physical inspection or measurements have been completed for this archive. Use the recording standard to add verified dimensions, markings, individual photographs and provenance.

A design developed through manufacture

The 1939 catalog presents the Wonder Spoon as a buoyant wobbler whose tail action could be retained with different hook dressings. It emphasizes the direct wire connection between line and hook. These are the maker’s explanations of its design. 1939 catalog, reproduced in Slusar, pp. 369–371.

Slusar traces a progression from asymmetrical early spoons to fully concave production bodies, then versions hollowed over roughly three-quarters of the underside. His account describes the later flat-backed Badger form as a response to production cost. Slusar, pp. 365–368, 372.

The casting sizes in the 1939 catalog

Catalog entry	Advertised length
Bass 1T	2½ inches
Bass 2T	3⅛ inches
Wall Eye 3T	3⅜ inches
Pickerel 4T	3⅝ inches
Muskie 6T	4¼ inches
Lake Trout 10T	6¼ inches

Catalog reproduction, Slusar p. 369. These are advertised sizes, not measurements of the three photographed examples. Fly-rod entries appear separately on p. 371.

From the printed record

Patterns and early forms

Sixteen patterns, one Wonder Spoon: The 1939 catalog’s Wonder Spoon color chart, with advertised casting sizes and prices. Reproduced in Christopher Slusar’s history, p. 369. — Sixteen patterns, one Wonder Spoon
The 1939 catalog’s Wonder Spoon color chart, with advertised casting sizes and prices. Reproduced in Christopher Slusar’s history, p. 369.
Source detailsSelect image to enlarge

Early spoon forms: Upper and underside photographs of early Wonder Spoons reproduced in Slusar, p. 365. These published examples illustrate the asymmetrical body form discussed in his account. — Early spoon forms
Upper and underside photographs of early Wonder Spoons reproduced in Slusar, p. 365. These published examples illustrate the asymmetrical body form discussed in his account.
Source detailsSelect image to enlarge