It ‘may’ have been ‘tradtiion’.
I’ll guess, though, that it had to do with materials on hand and machinery in use.
Hook machines only make money if they get used. Having them ‘sit’ is wasting money, regardless of ‘how many’ you may have in stock of a particular hook…steel is relatively ‘cheap’ as far as hooks making is concerned.
My ‘theory’ is:
What if, back when Mustad was ‘the’ hook, they made, and kept making hooks by the millions…when the unthinkable happened, and Mustad became the readheaded step child of the fly tying market, all of a sudden there wasn’t as large of a market for all them hooks.
Had to keep making them…machining is expensive. You ‘use’ these tools until they are worn out. So, what if they kept making ‘classic’ hooks on the older machines until they couldn’t make any more. Since they had pretty much decided by then that the market for them was ‘down’, it wouldn’t make sense for Mustad to ‘retool’ to make the ‘same old hooks’, when came the time to make new machines, they made the changes.
For all I know, they may have stopped making the classic hooks years back, but still had a couiple tons of them stockpiled.
What we are likely seeing now is the result of Mustad finally running down on stocks of the ‘classic’ hooks.
That’s my ‘theory’. I could be wrong. If so, someone ought to buy the old classic hooks making stuff, if it’s still operable, and get the mback on the market…
I like all the posts about the ‘look’ of the classic hooks, folks worrying about ‘that’. Lets face it, way less than 1/10 of 1% of the FLY TYERS out there cares even a tiny part of a damn about such things. If, as you claim, such things really matter to you, buy a box ‘now’ and you’ll have a lifetimes supply of ‘show box’ fly hooks. The fish don’t care if the wire diameter, lenght, or whatever is exact. Close, like within a 1/2 inch, is fine.
The bottom line is that the ‘classic’ hooks were cheap. Not badly made, or inferior. THAT is what all the hubbub is about. Folks are upset that their source of inexpensive hooks is maybe going away.
The ‘classics’ COST LESS. Why? Because they were made on machines already paid for, maybe over a generation or more ago. Probably made with steel purchased in huge quantities after WW II when they were scrapping all those ships and such and it was CHEAP.
A machine that cost $100,000 in the 30’s, suitably upgraded with all the new OSHA requirements, made with todays labor costs and materials, is probably over a couple of million bucks now. Hooks made on that machine will cost more than those made on the cheaper machine. You see, they have to ‘pay for’ the machine. It wasn’t free. They had to ‘buy it’.
Things change. We are now starting to see ‘cheap’ hooks coming off of the machines made in the orient (they get cheaper to use as they get older…). My last pruchase of 1,000 ‘premium’ hooks ran me $55 retail. Eventualy these ‘deals’ will begin to show up in the shops as more and more folks see the opportunity to enter this market (they will, vacuums in the business world ALWAYS get filled).
Until then, folks who want to ‘save money’ on hooks, and aren’t too lazy to take the time to look around a bit, will be able to do so. The lazy guys will just whine about it.
Buddy