It is 1904, you are a patent attorney, avid angler, and probably a little eccentric, what do you do?
While your wife, Harriet Taylor Upton, is pushing for equal voting rights for women, you decide to rival the Meeks, Milams, Talbots, etc.. and create your own tackle company, the Redifor Rod and Reel Co., incorporated in 1907, in my hometown, Warren, Ohio. You want to produce reels and rods that will be "READY FOR" any angling situation that may arise.
As a patent attorney, you buy established patents, and you enlist the skills and knowledge of tournament casters Ben Flegel and Louis Darling. Because of this collaboration, you create some of the highest quality reels, of the early 20th century.
The use of a new alloy, magnalium, in reel making, the creation of a self thumber/antibacklash mechanism, an advanced free spool mechanism, and the most "Rube Goldbergish" factory tournament reel ever created, the Darling/Flegel Double Tournament reel, helped put Redifor on the map.. In its infancy, the reel won major casting tournaments in New York, and Paris, France.
