Thoughts on engraving an old reel

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john elder
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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by john elder »

Alan,yes, all the EVH fly reels with adjustable drag have those dots filled with red ink to indicate the drag settings. I've had a few that you couldn't see the red and I at first thought that meant the ink was added by someone later. however, a quick swipe with a toothpick revealed the ink That appears to be the same ink used in the cursive lettering often seen on these reels. That's why I thought lettering might have been offered to buyers as an option.
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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by Paul M »

Mike:
Thanks for inspiring me to look harder. I believe I just found the story behind this reel online and it is a great one! I knew about the geographical reference and that the time frame was WWI but until just now, I didn't know the players whose initials appear on the reel and their relationship.

All of the connections are contained in a 1920 book called In Farthest Burma. The dedication is to The Hon. W.A. Hertz, C.S.I. (this would be the "WAH" on the reel). C.S.I. stands for Companion of the Star of India. Hertz was a Commissioner of Magewe, Upper Burma (and I gather he died before the book was completed). The dedication was written by none other than Rudyard Kipling!

The book discusses a range of topics about the trip of a botanist (Captain F. Kingdon Ward, B.A., F.R.G.S.) in Burma/Myanmar during the British occupation of this region. The other initials on the reel P.M.R.L. would be Mr. P.M.R. Leonard of the "frontier service". Photographs taken by Leonard are featured in the book, including a picture of a huge 60lb Maseer that he caught... one of several. No mention of the reel but it must have been presented after the trip, so that makes sense. How cool is that? I am going to have to re-think the value on this reel. I got it in a trade from a local Canadian collector friend who probably picked it up at a garage sale. Can't wait to see the look on his face when I tell him what he traded away LOL.

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Mike N
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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by Mike N »

Paul- I spent some time running typical British surnames that start with L or H (Long, Little, Howard, Henry etc) and some first names based on those initials, but no early luck on this site using filters like “military records” and “Burma.” Maybe you can give it a shot:

https://search.findmypast.co.uk/search/ ... 2871341352

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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by Mike N »

Paul M wrote:Mike:
Thanks for inspiring me to look harder. I believe I just found the story behind this reel online and it is a great one! I knew about the geographical reference and that the time frame was WWI but until just now, I didn't know the players whose initials appear on the reel and their relationship.

All of the connections are contained in a 1920 book called In Farthest Burma. The dedication is to The Hon. W.A. Hertz, C.S.I. (this would be the "WAH" on the reel). C.S.I. stands for Companion of the Star of India. Hertz was a Commissioner of Magewe, Upper Burma (and I gather he died before the book was completed). The dedication was written by none other than Rudyard Kipling!

The book discusses a range of topics about the trip of a botanist (Captain F. Kingdon Ward, B.A., F.R.G.S.) in Burma/Myanmar during the British occupation of this region. The other initials on the reel P.M.R.L. would be Mr. P.M.R. Leonard of the "frontier service". Photographs taken by Leonard are featured in the book, including a picture of a huge 60lb Maseer that he caught... once of several. No mention of the reel but it must have been presented after the trip, so that makes sense. How cool is that? I am going to have to re-think the value on this reel. I got it in a trade from a local Canadian collector friend who probably picked it up at a garage sale. Can't wait to see the look on his face when I tell him what he traded away LOL.



Paul— WOW!!!
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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by Mike N »

Paul- apparently Honorable WA Hertz was famous enough to have a fortification in Burma named for him:

From Wikipedia

“Fort Hertz was a remote British Military outpost in northeastern Burma in the district of Putao in what is now the Kachin State near the present town of Putao. It was named after William Axel Hertz. Hertz led the first expeditions into the far north of Burma in 1888, was responsible for the 1912 Gazetteer of Kachin Hills area and served as the first Deputy Commissioner of the Government in the Putao District.[1] The military post was established in 1914 and given the name Fort Hertz in 1925 on the retirement of William Hertz from the Indian Civil Service.”
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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by Nick in NY »

I believe you meant thoughts on engraved reels as opposed to engraving old reels. I feel there's nothing wrong with them ONLY IF THERE DONE AROUND TIME OF PURCHASING. About 20 - 25 years ago at an outdoor Langs show I remember seeing a pair of incredibly engraved reels with all the bells and whistles signed Clerk or Conroy as well as 1860s dates! I almost got burned until a fellow big game collector remembered seeing the same pair unsigned months earlier! It was a lesson learned, also saved me about $5,500! Be careful if it's to good to be true otherwise l feel it only adds character/flavor!
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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by Midway Tommy D »

Love those Open Face Spinning Reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)

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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by Alan Baracco »

Folks,

Since this thread has veered into the weird, I thought I would share my "engraving".

Steelhead fly my father invented, even had it published in a flyfishing magazine. I had the ink done on my 65th birthday to honor and remember him.

Alan



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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by Ed Rods »

I am just reading this thread and I find it interesting. Most reels have enough extra threads, depending on the reel to add a nice engraved plate outside the side plate. It would look good and add to the hobby. This way you could remove the plate and the reel is still original. I like the Idea for changing something from one look to another and people could get very inventive.
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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by reeltackle »

I am a big fan of engraved reels as long as it is period and done professionally. An engraved reel is a reel with a story waiting to be found and told and for me that is a big part of the joy of this hobby, sleuthing out the history behind a particular piece of tackle. Nothing beats an early Edward vom Hofe with a fancy script engraving, add the date and it even gets better.

I agree with John, I think the red engraving on EvH reels was done by the factory per customer request, perhaps at an additional charge. Later, Edward vom Hofe must have switched to white lettering as the later reels that appear to be factory engraved are filled with white rather than red. I imagine that large retailers like A&F and VL&A would also engrave reels as they most likely had someone in house or contracted that could do personal engraving not only on reels but guns and other items as well.

Here are some fun engraved reels -

Edward Victor Nestelle - Edward pretty much grew up in Avalon and fished extensively with Capt. George Farnsworth and his father "Uncle John" Nestelle - Take the time to read "Uncle John's" bio, some great reading for sure -

Come read "Uncle John's" Bio - https://www.islapedia.com/index.php?titl ... n%E2%80%9D



This 16/0 Commander Ross reel was built the first year the 16/0 was offered for sale. I believe this reel was displayed in the vom Hofe store's showroom when not on display at trade shows. One can only imagine that this monster was quite a conversation piece in its day -



Early custom 12/0 Coxe reel - This one came from Loren Grey, Zane's son -





Here's one that is not so professionally engraved .... but .... Lefty told me that when he lived in Homestead much of his tackle was stolen so thereafter he engraved his signature on all his reels with a Dremel tool.



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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by Mike N »

Ed—those are some great engraving examples.

Nothing better than sitting in front of a roaring fireplace on a snowy late Friday afternoon up North, looking at classic saltwater reels from sunny Florida. Even better than those college TGIFs 40 years ago (well, almost).

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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by reelsmith. »

Mike N wrote:Has anyone thought of personalized engraving of favorite antique reel or two that has been in their collection for a few decades? It certainly can’t hurt the value if done well and would be cool to see that prior ownership 50 years from now. I assume those engraving kiosks at the mall or a local jeweler could do it.

Any thoughts on whether this would be cool or be a sacrilege? Does a reel’s owner in 2017 have the same right to engrave his/her name on the reel as the owner did in 1929?

Mike N
Sacrilege ...yes ...that's the word. :lol:

Pretty darn tough to follow Ed here, but I'll give it a shot with some smaller engraved reels ...

Image

Image

Image

These three reels all belonged to this man ....

Image

Jacob Weidmann was born in Switzerland in 1845 and at the age of 22 moved to the United States. Weidmann started his company in the silk dying business in Paterson, NJ, in 1870. By the early-1900s The Jacob Weidmann Silk Dying Company was the largest silk dyeing works in the country, employing approximately 3,000 workers.

In 1909 Weidmann sold the business and retired. A member of the Spesutia Hunting and Fishing Clubs Of Harford County, Maryland, Weidmann died in 1911 while on a fishing trip in Canada.

Image

The engraving on the reel above is on a size 3-1/2 EVH Peerless. Captain Augustus P. Thompson (1855-1933) was a mariner from Maine.

I really like how the engraving was done on Thompson's Peerless ...discrete and artistic.

Image

I think the engraving on the above reel is “Bessie Seaboldt”. Can you ID the maker? I don't recognize the fixed cap.

Image

Image

Image

Image

The pretty little Leonard above was owned by Ezra H. Connell of Scranton, PA, a member of The Triton Fish & Game Club.

I'm a big fan of professionally engraved reels. I don't think it adds much if any value (with obvious exceptions, such as Zane Grey) ...but for me, it adds greatly to my enjoyment of the reels ...especially if I can find some history on the owner.

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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

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Well, Dean, not to detract from Ed's great contribution, but I think your reels and history of them are fantastic! Thanks for posting! Alan, nice ink and quite an honor to your father.

One of the neatest...and oldest...reels in my collection is this Conroys Makers reel from the Mary Kelly collection. I have never researched the characters, but this thread has inspired me to do so.

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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by Mike N »

Dean and John- only one, two syllable word to describe your reels:

Woooowooooow
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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by reeltackle »

Great stuff Dean and John.

Dean - Great stuff as always, you never cease to amaze me with the reels you come up with and I appreciate the research you put into both the reels, and the men who owned them.

John - Sure would be interested to hear what you find out about the folks mentioned on your reel - I found some mention of a William H. Starin in some old Civil War records -

https://www.oocities.org/genelady.geo/fulton1.html

Here is a very early reel that I dug up in Wales a few years back and was somehow talked out of by a very persuasive Englishman. It was the earliest engraving I can remember seeing and for sure, the earliest reel I have ever found. Never found out who made it and also not exactly sure how I let this one slip away.....

While researching the reel I found out the "I" was a Gothic "J" and the name was John Wever Price. Price,it seems, was from Wales and retired as a sea captain in 1773, perhaps this reel was his retirement gift. I found the info under John Weaver Price, it also appears that exact spelling was not as important back then as it is now, or, the engraver made an honest mistake.






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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by John Savu »

Probably 30+ years ago, a friend of mine rescued two quality Kentucky Reels that a neighbor was in the process of throwing into a bonfire, really! One of the reels was engraved to Carter Henry Harrison , Mayor of Chicago. I acquired both reels and eventually sold them both. I always have wondered what happened to the Harrison reel. Does anyone know anything about it? John
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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by Mike N »

This is how a little engraving in 1942 —while WW II was raging in Europe— can make a simple $15 auto fly reel priceless, in my opinion.



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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by john elder »

this is not the thread I was looking for to add these pics to but it will do fine. I just returned from Tim Pond in Maine where a bunch of us gather to fish, tell lies and show/trade tackle. Bob Moran brought along this little brass reel made in England and so marked...unimpressive except what he had a talented friend in the vintage guns arena do for it! this was all done by the fellow by hand...just exquisite work, including the M added to personalize it! Speaks to the point about a couple ebay reels on that other thread where they were heavily and beautifully etched....so much talent out there!



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Re: Thoughts on engraving an old reel

Post by Mike N »

That’s a beautiful reel, John.

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