Early on, it was obvious that Mills liked the “Intrinsic” name on their products. There is at least one item in all their tackle items that bears the name. This included a reel. Clarence Gayle (Gayle) started making the “Intrinsic” reel for Mills starting in the early 1900’s. The reel is not in the 1899 catalog, but is in the 1908 catalog. The reel was made of German silver. The reel design is a more ornate version of the Gayle “Standard” top hat reel. Gayle also made a second version of the “Intrinsic” reel that looked like a regular Kentucky reel, but also very ornate. By ornate, I mean a lot of knurling on almost all edges and components. This second version is not seen in the Mills catalogs I have examined.
In 1909 the 9/0 size “Intrinsic” salt water reel was introduced in the catalog. The Gayle bait caster and 9/0 size reels were carried in their catalogs up until 1916 when WWI was going on. At this time Clarence Gayle was not making reels and his reels no longer show up in the future Mills catalogs. It does appear that Gayle had established a relationship with Julius vom Hofe (JVH) and procured components from them. The one reel pictured below has the Mills name stamped on it and similar to the Gayle version but with a JVH handle and foot.
After the war, Mills teamed up with JVH to make the “Intrinsic” reels. The first to be introduced was the salt water version in 1924. The reel advertised an automatic free spool that was not found on the Gayle versions. Also, the reel more reflects the JVH exterior design. It wasn’t until about 1932 that the JVH “Intrinsic” bait casting reel appeared in the catalogs. To my knowledge, both bait casting and salt water JVH versions were available up until 1942, here again, when a war was going on. Photos of the salt water version can be seen in Steve Vernon’s new book. The bait casting reel, although advertised as German silver and hard rubber in the catalogs, to my knowledge has only been found made of aluminum and hard rubber.
The Clarence Gayle "Intrinsic" Bait Casting Reels
The Clarence Gayle "Intrinsic" Tarpon Reel
The Clarence Gayle "Intrinsic" Tarpon Reel with Julius vom Hofe Parts
The Julius vom Hofe "Intrinsic" Bait Casting Reel
The Julius vom Hofe "Intrinsic" Tarpon Reel
Photos of the Julius vom Hofe "Intrinsic" Tarpon Reel can be seen in Steve Vernon's new book.
