JVH, EVH, modified or what?

[Paul M]

ORCA member Bruno Leclerre just bought this unmarked antique brass multiplier and we are trying to figure out exactly what it is. The foot has the JVH style hole but a similar reel is shown in the 1896 EVH catalog. The rim control appears to be a stop latch rather than a break/drag, the way the pin pokes through the bell of the spool. The relatively sophisticated way the rim control is attached inside the reel with a rivet through a slot in the rim lever is different than ones I have seen before.

So is this a "factory" JVH or was it modified? Is this the same reel that was sold via the referenced EVH catalog or straight from JVH or something else?

[Steve]

$0.02(U.S.)-worth of idle thoughts: The foot and crank shape suggest that the reel is late-19th century (as does its catalog appearance), which would make a stop anachronistic. Maybe an owner just added a hole to the spool flange so what was a brake pin would stop the spool. As to the "sophisticated" rim control--have seen it before but will have to search a lot of photos to find it.