Are there any history investigators or detectives in the crowd? If so, I will be happy to give you credit for any discoveries you make leading to the identification of Lady Corduroy.

Stories about early American (possibly Scottish) female baitcasters are few and their history deserves recording. One such angler was Lady Corduroy; I would like you to help me find her so that I can tell her story. This is what she looked like. The photos are from two articles, both from Field and Stream magazine: Baitcasting for Black Bass, June 1904, and The Fish Region of Maine, March 1904. Although the articles appeared in 1904, the photos, I believe, are from 1903. (Magazine is available via free download from Google Books)

Left (below), Lady Corduroy as she appears in the June, 1904 edition of Field and Stream magazine. Below, two photos from the March, 1904, Article.

In addition to the photos of Lady Corduroy above I have, a strong belief that she is also in the photo & extract, right side below. This 1903 Library of Congress photo is titled “A Mornings Catch in the Adirondacks”. The photo appears in my book, A History of Baitcasting in America.

James A. Cruikshank wrote both articles and took the photos appearing in Field and Stream. Cruikshank and Corduroy spent time traveling and angling together c1903/04. It is highly possible that information about him will be helpful in identifying Corduroy.

The photo below is Cruikshank. I believe the Louis Rhead illustration, Maine Guides Preparing Lunch, on page 149 of the book, The Basses Fresh-Water and Marine, also reflects Cruikshank lunching with Corduroy; it is consistent with information in the Sports and Field article.

  • Cruikshank was born September 27, 1882, in Bearsden (near Glasgow), Scotland
  • Angled with Lady Corduroy, 1903/04
  • Wrote the book section, Artificial Lures for Black Bass, published in The Basses Fresh-Water and Marine, by William C. Harris and Tarleton H. Bean, edited and illustrated by Louis Rhead, 1905. Cruikshank’s section of the book begins on page 155, a few pages following Rhead’s illustration.
  • Moved to Canada c1904 and worked in the newspaper business as an editor at various levels including: Winnipeg (1904), Managing Editor, Saskatoon Phoenix, Saskatoon Star, Regina Morning Leader (1917)
  • Married Alice May Pentland, 1908
  • Editor and Business Manager, American Angler Magazine, 1920

The only narrative information about Corduroy appears in the March 1904 article, The Fish Region of Maine. (In the June 1904 article, there are three photos of Corduroy demonstrating the baitcasting technique but no personal narrative about her.)

  • She spoke some French as a second (or third, etc.) language
  • She may have been of diminutive stature (“the little lady”)
  • In one photo, she appears to be wearing a plaid tam (a millinery design for women based on the tam o’ shanter military cap, the traditional Scottish men’s bonnet)