Stubby1743
Well-known member
Thanks for posting my advert. 
The Lugzsonian - A Virtual Tour
- Thread starter Private Lugnutz
- Start date
OP
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
HAHA! Do you fish? If so, you gotta try to find a vintage "Stubby" somewhere!
Seriously, as some of you know, I was born and raised in the sticks of northeast PA - and it was with hip waders on. None of our rods were unaltered. None. They were all shortened. If you've ever fished for trout in the streams and creeks of northeast PA - probably holds true for many parts of upstate NY and northwest New Jersey, as well, you know what I mean. There was no space for much of any casting at all, and certainly not overhead. When you fought your way through underbrush and brambles just to get to your favorite stream or creek, it was more often than not closely canopied by dense broad-leafed foliage. We crept, in the creek, ducking low-hanging branches, side-"casting", with T Rex arms, or just guiding our shortened rods and letting the line run out downstream into an eddy or hole. Brookies and brownies. Although the brookies are all gone now.
OP
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Returning to the topic at hand, it's hard for us here at the Lugzsonian to ignore the fact that the tool we had heretofore aligned nearly exclusively with Aircraft Specialties, Inc., in Lapeer, MI, marketed relentlessly in the 1950's as "Mechanical Fingers"...
...but marked, literally, as "MECHANICAL FINGER" - note, singular, not plural...
...is exactly the same marking on the ADCO example, a term also verbatim with their patent. (We have not found a Trademark.)
They were contemporaries.
I had previously identified Aircraft Specialties as a postwar start-up in the Industrial-Military Complex, but multiple sources point to them being established in 1934 and turning out some of the other products they would patent (1936) and be known for as early as 1938.
It's not only the Lugzsonian staff who considered the name synonymous with Aircraft Specailties. (Check out the length of the tool the AEC turned it into!)
So how did Aircraft Specialties of Lapeer, MI end up making so many copies of a tool that ADCO of Dayton, OH patented and used the same name for?
...but marked, literally, as "MECHANICAL FINGER" - note, singular, not plural...
...is exactly the same marking on the ADCO example, a term also verbatim with their patent. (We have not found a Trademark.)
They were contemporaries.
I had previously identified Aircraft Specialties as a postwar start-up in the Industrial-Military Complex, but multiple sources point to them being established in 1934 and turning out some of the other products they would patent (1936) and be known for as early as 1938.
It's not only the Lugzsonian staff who considered the name synonymous with Aircraft Specailties. (Check out the length of the tool the AEC turned it into!)
So how did Aircraft Specialties of Lapeer, MI end up making so many copies of a tool that ADCO of Dayton, OH patented and used the same name for?
Last edited:
Beerhippie
Well-known member
See user name.HAHA! Do you fish? If so, you gotta try to find a vintage "Stubby" somewhere!
I don't recall the Stubby, but I do remember the Popeil Pocket Fisherman.
It goes a little further by incorporating the reel into the rod/grip.
OP
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
?? If you mean @Stubby1743, I did, of course, hence my joke. I am assuming it's a real-life nickname as well. (I've been called "Duke" my whole life, in real-life, which is why I have a **** ton of Duke (university) shirts!
) If I was a Stubby, it would be fun to have a "Stubby".Beerhippie
Well-known member
You'd get a bit of a ribbing in the locker room!
OP
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Here's all the pickeruppers (and one cousin) we could round up in a moment's notice to turn this into an afterthought Curator's Corner group shot.
We have little to no doubt that the Bonneys were made by Aircraft Specialties. Link to more photos of them HERE. Maybe the little KMO jobbie, too. It's part of a complete vintage KMO carb kit, linked HERE.
We have little to no doubt that the Bonneys were made by Aircraft Specialties. Link to more photos of them HERE. Maybe the little KMO jobbie, too. It's part of a complete vintage KMO carb kit, linked HERE.
OP
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
Agreed!
But having an actual "Stubby" (the rod and reel, preferably in its NOS box) on the tailgate at dawn with my fishing buddies would make for a cool and funny moment.
OP
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
We did have another ASI "Mechanical Finger", but we "gold-plated" it for the inaugural (2018) Garage Sale thread Picker of the Year Award presented to the inimitable and seldom-seen @tin medic!
OP
Private Lugnutz
Well-known member
HJE uses this tag in their sales promotion of the ADCO Mechanical Fingers. Hard to read the date. Could be 1942. Could be 1947. The "AAF" in the stock number is Army Air Forces, which has to be before late 1947, when the US Air Force was ordained.
