Evolution of the William Mills & Son “Intrinsic” Reel
- RonG
- Super Board Poster
- Posts: 1468
- Joined: Fri Oct 24, 2003 8:49 pm
- Location: Frostproof, FL
- Contact:
Evolution of the William Mills & Son “Intrinsic” Reel
The reel evolution of the “Intrinsic” is based on the William Mills & Son (Mills) catalogs available to me at the time of writing this story.
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.
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.
Ron Gast
https://reelsnlures.com
https://reelsnlures.com
Re: Evolution of the William Mills & Son “Intrinsic” Reel
That’s a noteworthy and scholarly presentation, Ron. It is what ORCA is all about.
Mike N.
Mike N.
Mike N.
ORCA Founder, 1990
ORCA Founder, 1990
- reelsmith.
- Ultra Board Poster
- Posts: 1715
- Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2003 11:08 am
- Location: Connecticut
- Contact:
Re: Evolution of the William Mills & Son “Intrinsic” Reel
Nice reels Ron !
Thanks for sharing and for the great information.
Dean.
Thanks for sharing and for the great information.
Dean.
Wanted: Kosmic Items, Small Leather Fly Reel Cases, Early Fishing Related Bottles, Fly Reels and Pre-1900 Angling/Casting Medals.
http://www.tackletreasures.com/
http://www.tackletreasures.com/
- Paul M
- Ultra Board Poster
- Posts: 2200
- Joined: Fri Feb 03, 2006 9:10 pm
- Location: Toronto, Canada
- Contact:
Re: Evolution of the William Mills & Son “Intrinsic” Reel
Great educational article and display, Ron. I especially like the picture showing the faint double-impression of the Gayle name in script on the rubber side plate. That must be very rare!
Paul Manuel
Member since 2006
Member since 2006
- kyreels
- Super Board Poster
- Posts: 1147
- Joined: Mon Feb 06, 2006 6:12 pm
- Location: Louisville, Kentucky
Re: Evolution of the William Mills & Son “Intrinsic” Reel
Very educational and unknown to me. Love the Gayle Tarpon reel, tremendous.
Matt Wickham
Collector of Casting Weights, KY Reels and KY Tackle
Collector of Casting Weights, KY Reels and KY Tackle
Re: Evolution of the William Mills & Son “Intrinsic” Reel
Ron, your history is so detailed, making every reel unique. The World Wars were hard on every industry and I wonder how the pandemic will affect fishing. Thank you for being a stellar President and taking the time to make displays. You just do it all.
Joined: 2007
Re: Evolution of the William Mills & Son “Intrinsic” Reel
Ron, an excellent, welcome display of a series of reels that have been mostly ignored for too long. Kudos!
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."