A bit of reminiscing: worst flytying kit ever

I recently discovered my old flytying kit from circa 1960 (maybe '61 or '62) buried in a box in the attic.  Looking at the contents, it's no wonder that I lost interest almost immediately.  Check out the vise that came along with it!  And those feathers... oh, my goodness.  I remember "tying" (I use that term loosely, pun intended) a few flies, each of which disassembled quickly on the water, likely during the second cast or after the first sunfish hit it, whichever came first.

Are you old enough to have experienced such a disaster of a kit?  My guess is that this was the standard kit available at the typical-for-the-day local sporting goods store.  Especially if you didn't live in an area where flyfisherman were abundant.

C-clamp vise.  I wonder what the pedestal model looked like. LOL.
As I recall, even with pliers I couldn't get the clamp to adequately hold a hook.



In my case the local sporting goods store was Macone's.  I loved that store.  I bought my first "English" bike there, a black thin-tired "Robin Hood Sports" by Raleigh with a 3-speed gear shift. It was so much cooler ("neat" or "kean" might have been the term used back in the day) than the fat-tired Schwinns.  I bought my first football and Wilson brand all-leather "Jerry Lumpe" baseball glove there.  Macone's even rented skis! And they had car models.  And they had fishing stuff!  Rods and reels and Daredevils and fishing flies in little plastic-hinged snap-shut boxes.  I bought my first pair of waders there at age 12; they were chest waders and basically made of plastic (probably made in Japan, where all the cheap stuff was made back then) as I couldn't afford the canvas ones.

Were those the "good 'ol days"?  I don't know.  I think they were all good.  But I must say it was a simpler time.  On the other hand, any 12 year old today can easily do a lot better when it comes to tying flies.

I guess you get what you pay for. 
Unfortunately this kit was the only
option available to me.