Union Hardware Reels

ORCA Online Forum - Feel free to talk or ask about ALL kinds of old tackle here, with an emphasis on old reels!
Post Reply
User avatar
David Lehmann
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 300
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 3:32 pm
Location: Rochester, NY
Contact:

Union Hardware Reels

Post by David Lehmann »

The post I made on this board earlier today brings a few things to light. First, Union Hardware was an important manufacturer of reels during the early to mid 20th century. Second, information about Union Hardware and their reels has not been compiled and published.

This would be a great topic/article for The Reel News. Would anybody be willing to draft an article?

Thanks,
David
Teal
Ultra Board Poster
Posts: 2033
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 8:23 pm
Location: Cincinnati, OH

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by Teal »

Jim Garrett, Skip Brooks, and myself have been working on a Union Hardware book for several years, but keep getting sidetracked. I hope we can return to it in 2018. It's an awesome company.

-- Dr. Todd
Monkeypaws
Big ORCA Fan
Posts: 11
Joined: Sun Apr 29, 2018 1:21 pm

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by Monkeypaws »

I just picked up my first UH Sunny brook reel. Very nice reel
User avatar
David Lehmann
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 300
Joined: Thu Jan 14, 2016 3:32 pm
Location: Rochester, NY
Contact:

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by David Lehmann »

Todd,
Would you folks be interested/willing to provide an overview of the company for The Reel News? It would be well received and could also increase interest in your upcoming book.
Richard Lodge
Super Board Poster
Posts: 1199
Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2003 10:00 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by Richard Lodge »

Dave - A few years ago I donated a few pages from a catalog of Union Hardware reels to the ORCA library. Not a lot of reels (mostly rods, if I recall), but the standard items.
User avatar
54bullseye
Super Board Poster
Posts: 528
Joined: Sun Dec 14, 2014 11:47 am

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by 54bullseye »

Teal wrote:Jim Garrett, Skip Brooks, and myself have been working on a Union Hardware book for several years, but keep getting sidetracked. I hope we can return to it in 2018. It's an awesome company.

-- Dr. Todd
Here is a Union Hardware reel you won't see often !! 12/0 size John Taylor









User avatar
Steve
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3940
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2003 6:11 am
Contact:

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by Steve »

It begins: http://reeltalk.orcaonline.org/viewtopic.php?t=4047

Update from
"The Union Hardware Company was established in 1854 for the production of ice skates. The firm was initially organized by Torrington industrialist Achille F. Migeon with $12,000 in capital, and occupied an old lock shop along the Naugatuck River in Torrington Hollow. Around 1865 it relocated to a site on Migeon Avenue, where it would remain for the rest of its history. Roller skates were added to the firm’s catalog around 1876, these supplemented with a assortment of iron, leather and wooden goods by the turn of the century. Among the latter were various models of steel and bamboo fishing rods, fishing reels, gun accessories, hack saw frames, screwdrivers, chisels, tool handles, and other wooden goods. The company continued to diversify during the early decades of the twentieth century, adding nail clippers, steel golf club shafts, and police goods, such as handcuffs, by the 1930s. The initial plant erected along Migeon Avenue by the Union Hardware Company was comprised of a mix of brick and frame structures between one and three stories in height. These were incrementally removed and replaced during the late-19th and early-20th century, with the oldest existing building being the western half of the 1896 skate department and machine shop, a one-story red brick factory building with clerestory monitor roof located along the northern boundary of the plant. This was enlarged ca. 1905, a period that saw numerous additions to the plant. The latter included construction of a new office building, machine ship, forge shop, boiler house, and various shipping and storage buildings. The Union Hardware Company continued to expand its influence during the 1910s and 1920s, acquiring the Tower and Lyon Company of New York in 1911, the T.H. Wood Company of South Coventry, Connecticut in 1922, and the Chapin-Stephens Company of Pine Meadow, Connecticut in 1926. The firm also added a line of steel golf club shafts to its catalog during this period, a move that helped drive total employment to around 900 employees in 1930. The latter would become a vital market for the company and sustained its operations into the late 20th century. In 1960 the Union Hardware Company was purchased by the Brunswick Sports Products Co. – later the Brunswick Corporation – a Chicago-based sporting goods conglomerate. Union Hardware was maintained as a division of Brunswick and the company’s hardware lines were abandoned in order to focus on sporting goods, primarily roller skates and golf club shafts. Roller skates were phased out by the mid-1990s and in 1996, the FM Precision Golf Manufacturing Corporation acquired the Union Hardware Division of Brunswick, which was in turn merged with Royal Grip to form Royal Precision, Inc. the following year. True Temper Sports Inc., of Memphis, Tennessee, purchased and closed the Torrington factory in 2006. As of 2015 a portion of the plant had been reoccupied as a manufacturing facility for Duc Duc, LLC., a New York-based furniture maker."

Jim Brown has written that UH started making reels in 1923, though the language in the quote above suggests an earlier date. T.W. Bryant patented what would become the hinged Samson reel in 1906, when he was the company president. I've never run across much, except the quote above, to suggest the company made reels that early.

From a 1907 issue of Hardware Dealers' Magazine:

N.B. Union Hardware and Electrical Supply Co., R.I., was a non-affiliated company founded in 1901. "Be careful out there."

Steve Vernon
ORCA Honorary member

Book: ANTIQUE FISHING REELS, 2nd Ed.
Websites:
Antique Fishing Reels
Kopf reels
Hendrick reels

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."
User avatar
Midway Tommy D
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3135
Joined: Sun Jan 20, 2013 11:23 pm
Location: Eastern NE

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by Midway Tommy D »

Interesting that Brunswick had Union Hardware & Zebco at the same time.
Love those Open Face Spinning Reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco)

Tom DeLong, NE
ORCA Member - 2027
User avatar
john elder
Star Board Poster
Posts: 8541
Joined: Mon Sep 22, 2003 2:44 pm

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by john elder »

Fantastice cradle reel, JT! They must have made only a few of those and decided against pursuing the big saltwater market? That's the only one I've seen, but then that doesn't mean a lot! Handle looks to be about 2 logs lower quality than the rest of the reel/cradle!
ORCA member since 1999
Honorary Life Member

Specializing in saltwater reels...and fly reels...and oh, yeah, kentucky style reels.....and those tiny little RP reels.....oh, heck...i collect fishing reels!...and fly rods....and lures
User avatar
54bullseye
Super Board Poster
Posts: 528
Joined: Sun Dec 14, 2014 11:47 am

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by 54bullseye »

Jay white has one just about like it his has a rod but not sure it was original to the cradle. The handle is a lot more rugged than it look !! I think it's stainless and those two bends make it strong ! The grasp is Micarta. I have a 9/0 by Hoerle also but Union Hardware is not on the reel at all I think the 9/0 is an earlier cradle than the 12/0. I have heard that they made a 14/0 cradle also but haven't seen one . This post I made a while ago shows Jay's reel and my 9/0.
viewtopic.php?f=7&t=20499 They are neat old hard to find cradles !!! John Taylor
oc1
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 214
Joined: Wed Aug 24, 2016 2:49 pm
Location: Windward Oahu

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by oc1 »

How do you come up with this stuff John?

I tried in vain to put together a usable Union Hardware light baitcasting rig but could not make it happen. Both their steel rods with beehive handle and period reels are junk. They look nice in pictures but in hand they feel very "tinny" with poor design, materials and tolerances..... in my opinion.
-steve
User avatar
54bullseye
Super Board Poster
Posts: 528
Joined: Sun Dec 14, 2014 11:47 am

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by 54bullseye »

Steve I bought the original W.F. Hoerle 9/0 from Brian up in Oregon. Brian knew Hoerle was associated with Union Hardware but the 9/0 had no UH markings. Then I was lucky enough to be offered the 12/0 from another ORCA member and that brought the two reels together and there are a lot of similarities between the reels. Just got lucky I guess !!!! John Taylor
Teal
Ultra Board Poster
Posts: 2033
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 8:23 pm
Location: Cincinnati, OH

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by Teal »

A few of the Union Hardware reels are fishable for the modern "vintage tackle" angler. I've fished the Samson take apart model, and the jeweled Samson (same name different reel) baitcaster with some success. Much like a lower end Shakespeare.
Richard Lodge
Super Board Poster
Posts: 1199
Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2003 10:00 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by Richard Lodge »

Hi folks. I bought a very cool, Jetsons style Union Hardware level wind reel from an ORCA member during the convention and I'm fascinated by it. I'm kicking this UH discussion back up the board to see if we've learned anything new since Mark and others had this discussion thread a couple years ago.And also wondering if Todd Larson has been working on a Union Hardware book or article I might have missed? Anyway, I love the shape of the sideplates on this reel. I donated the UH catalog pages to the ORCA library a few years ago but haven 't seen this shape sideplate in any of the few UH reels you see often in hardware and sporting goods retail catalogs from back then. I thought the little bulbous part of the front plate was unusual so I took off the plate and that bulbous part serves absolutely no purpose! Anyway, thoughts, theories and gen-you-wine information is welcomed. I might be looking for more UH reels in the near future. Definitely not a high-end company but semi-local to me and just fun to see.
By the way, I've owned several UH reels over the years and that sliding click button and the wooden knobs are identical to the little Sunnybrook and the Samson reel with the cool hinged end plate. The two sizes of skeleton fly reels I've seen from UH also have the same sliding click button.





And here's the inside of that plate:
wrong99
Star Board Poster
Posts: 2578
Joined: Fri Nov 09, 2012 10:42 am
Location: S.F. Bay Area ORCA MEMBER

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by wrong99 »

Here's what apparently is the "round and jeweled" version of your reel.
Mark




Richard Lodge
Super Board Poster
Posts: 1199
Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2003 10:00 pm
Location: Massachusetts

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by Richard Lodge »

Very cool reel, Mark. Thanks for posting those photos.
User avatar
desertangler
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 147
Joined: Fri Aug 28, 2015 2:35 pm
Location: Upland, CA

Re: Union Hardware Reels

Post by desertangler »

Hi Richard,

Nice reel :D I have a green faceted jeweled bearing cap version too, with a chromed handle, not brass/bronzed like yours. Mark is right, the UH 7505 is closest, and I tracked this catalog listing. The ad looks like it is depicting a faceted jewel cap, and different from Mark's example. Here is a close up of mine.

Cheers,

George

:fished Reely Easy Going ORCA Member
Post Reply