The Traditional Fisherman's Forum

A couple of adverts found in a PDF of JW's book, Float fishing and spinning in the Nottingham style 1885.
Hope these are of interest.

Fascinating! He was a brave chap to go into business from nothing, in those days, and always seems to have been on the side of the ordinary angler, making decent tackle as cheaply as would make him a living. It's always amazed me, how expensive tackle was in terms of the average weekly wage up until hollow glass took off, and JWM seems to have been one of the few makers/dealers who weren't taking the mickey - down here, anyway; it may well have been a much more affordable market in the North, with so many match anglers.
(Discuss...)
I wonder what was in King's Natural Bait?

I'll have a scan through the book Mr Vole, but i don't remember any details being mentioned.

The first, and probably only! reference i'v found is as follows:

"I don't believe in scented pastes, and I will leave the experiment
of trying them to those who have more time on their
hands than I have. Plain bread paste is good enough for
me, when I feel inclined for a bit of paste fishing. Mr.
King's " Natural Bait," however, is an exception to the
general rule of bought nostrums. This powder, when mixed
among the bread paste, forms a very white and tenacious
bait, and is very attractive ; I have tried it and found it
to be a genuine lure, as I have made several very nice
bags of roach by its agency during the last two or three
seasons ; a threepenny packet mixed in a lump of paste the
size of a small hen's egg being plenty for a long day's fishing.