History of artificial bow tie production in Poland after World War II

History of artificial bow tie production in Poland after World War II

Author of the study Robert Kostecki

In 1945-1946, the supply of inland fisheries was uncoordinated. Fish trading companies and fish merchants supplied fishermen with nets and necessary equipment, while anglers were supplied exclusively by private companies, such as Bronislaw Radwanski's „SUM” in Warsaw. However, the so-called „field” reportedly suffered from shortcomings as well as the need for an organization that would capture the entire supply of fishing and angling equipment. Therefore, through the efforts of a group of people representing the Union of Fishing Organizations and the Union of Sport Fishing Societies, a cooperative called "Fishing Equipment" was established in Warsaw in January 1947 to supply freshwater fishermen and anglers with equipment. The shareholders of the Cooperative became: District Fishermen's Associations, local Angling Societies and a small group of people from scientific and professional spheres more closely interested in the issue of fishing equipment and the development of inland fishing in general.

In the field of fishing equipment, the Cooperative, as soon as it was established, embraced wholesale market supply and import, supplanting private initiative in this field, which - „supported by an elite part of the members of the Association of Sport Fishing Societies clung to this position.” The catalog-informant of the Cooperative „Fishing Equipment” for 1950 (circulation of 10,000 copies), probably only by way of example, offered four varieties of wet flies. In 1951, 50,000 artificial flies were sold in Poland, most in the Cooperative's Cracow branch, with all of them imported - mainly from Norway and Czechoslovakia. A wholesale fly cost an average of PLN 2.50.

Economic calculation led professionals to work on launching Polish production of artificial flies. In 1952, an appointed committee consisting of: W. Kołder, A. Kosiek and M. Galos, members of the PZW District in Cracow, and M. Pisarski and J. Dyląg (nota bene maker of excellent spoon spinners), employees of the Cooperative „Fishing Equipment”, from about 200 varieties of flies, selected 16 essential patterns for production, which were pasted on master cartons. Most were international patterns with English names, but among them were also flies with Polish names: „Prądówka”, „Skawica”, „Podhalanka” and „Góralka”. The raw material in the form of feathers was to be supplied by the Egg and Poultry Headquarters, specifically the poultry plant in Niepołomice.

There was still the matter of assembling a team of workers who were familiar with the planned production. The nucleus of the crew consisted of cottagers who had so far only casually made artificial bow ties. They were mostly residents of Podhale, although there was no shortage of Cracovians among them. For example, the Pańszczyk brothers and Franciszek Majerczyk, highlanders from Biały Dunajec, or Trybuła, Sitarz and Łyko from Zakopane - were in a class of their own. In their fingers alone, without any tools, they were able to form a filigree bow tie. The cottagers included in the registry sent samples of the bow ties they made for qualification and reported individual production capabilities. In addition to their professional work, one cottager could, with good skill and equipped with the right tools, make 20-30 bow ties a day, reselling them at 2.0-2.8 zlotys apiece.

The cooperative „Fishing Equipment” organized two courses: one for beginners and another for advanced „spinners.” In addition, A. Kosiek, the production manager, dealt with individual instruction by touring Podhale localities, as it turned out that not only in Biały Dunajec and Zakopane, but also in Czorsztyn, Mszana Dolna, as well as in Nowy Targ, there were bow tie constructors.

A few years later, most of the registered cottagers became shareholders of the independent Cooperative of Work of Sport Fishing Equipment in Cracow, which was established in 1957 and was later transformed into the Cooperative of Work „Fishing Equipment”. The Cooperative was headquartered at 9 Grodzka Street (second floor) in Cracow, and retail sales were conducted in its own factory store at 16 Bohaterów Stalingradu Street, also in Cracow. Around the mid-1960s, the Krakow cooperative employed 125 people. „Spinners” from the cooperative, who were mostly ladies, received 3 zlotys for making a bow tie. So these people had to make about 550 pieces to make a salary. In 1966, the cooperative submitted the Company Standard „Flies and Artificial Insects,” which was established by a decision of the President of the Provincial Cooperative Workers' Union in Cracow on January 20, 1967, as a standard applicable to production and marketing from February 1, 1967. Among the 120 bow tie patterns described in this standard, 8 bow ties were Polish patterns with graceful names: Dunajec, Góraleczka, Lipcówka, Osa, Prądówka, Skawica, Kashubian Jumper and Fantazyna.

In addition to patriotic reasons, offering flies of native idea probably resulted from the fact that some anglers believed that we should not stop at making imitations of insects bearing English names and imitating representatives of English and Scottish fauna, since in our climate and even in particular regions of the country there is a whole plethora of insects completely different in species. The Cracow cooperative operated until 1975, and its flies were highly valued, including on world markets.