Mod F Mod K Penn Reels

fishbugman · Post by **fishbugman** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 10:52 am

Milt, The photos provided in the original post should have been very sufficient to ID the reels. Are you not seeing the big picture?

m3040c · Post by **m3040c** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 6:05 pm

There are no secrets here. ID is simple. In the logo on the head plate it says, Mod F. The tail plate will have the round Ocean City type clicker button. All else is the same as a 1933 Penn Sea Hawk. The side plates make it a Model F. This reel is a prototype and many followed that were exactly the same except for the logo and clicker button. Some of the early Sea Hawks even shared the round clicker button of the Model F but most had the waffle style button that Penn used on most of their reels until World War II ended.

SWIM JIG · Post by **SWIM JIG** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 11:34 pm

jump usa canadian , Mike , thats the answere that is needed! remeber, and this goes for all us ORCA MEMBERS! there are a lot of potential new members that read our site, make the decision to join or not to join by what we as members do to make things eazy for others to learn by! With our mebership dropping off we need to have others join! When they read and see what ORCA is about, they will decide is this for them or isnt it for them! Now, is there much variation in the plates like thickness, color tints and weights? or diamitors? and if there is what has your reseach found and how many variations have you found? This may also be a good artical to put in our ORCA mag? Mike, I thank you for education, new and old readers I bet theres gona be a lot of dusty penns looked at in the next few weeks! I have a friend in GA. George D. Skinner that repairs reels and uses reels, he has so many older Penns I will ask him to make a list as he may have a few early ones, one thing for certain, I bet a lot of old pens wil now come out of basements and garages and sheds! Col. Milton Lorens aka swim jig of Ohio

m3040c · Post by **m3040c** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:30 am

Milt,

What makes the Model F special is its rarity in numbers and the fact that historically, it began a very successful company, that is still in existence today. And all this happened during the depression. Businesses were failing, people were out of work throughout our country and here comes a new reel to a market that was full of fishing reels and makes it big. Otto Henze had the right combination.

The side plates that make the Model F unique were not made by Penn Reels, they were contracted to a machine shop by the name of Kuhn Jocobs and are identifiable by a K within a circle on the inside of the plate. All the plates were made of Brown Bakelite, were 3 1/4 inch in diameter and 17/32 of an inch thick, the width of the spool is 1 7/8 inches. It was a free spool reel, the free spool is engaged by pulling out the handle. As far as I know, there are no variations on the Model F. They are all the same, all ten or so of them.

Now, since we are in Penn History here, let me throw out a question to all the members. Why did Otto Henze name his new reel company Penn

ReelMan1988 · Post by **ReelMan1988** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:40 am

He Probably Named it Penn because the company was in

Pennsylvania ? Thats my first Guess

And probably the right one, unless while writing a note he misspelled Pen with two n's? And went along with that?lol

Or maybe he liked Trains and dedicated his company after the Pennsylvania Railroad?

ReelMan1988 · Post by **ReelMan1988** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:42 am

As the great slogan shows no one ever knows how many licks it takes to get to the center of a tootsie pop?

"" The World May Never Know ""

ReelMan1988 · Post by **ReelMan1988** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:44 am

Well Now everyone can let this thread die out, like the rest of them. Thanks for all the info! Everyone " Keep Collecting" .

Fishbugman keep trying to pick fights

lol JK mate

And I hope I find one of those reels!

m3040c · Post by **m3040c** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 1:03 am

Well there's the first, second and third shot at a answer:

1) because the new Penn reel company was in Pennsylvania.

2) because Otto Henze mis-spelled the word Pen.

3) because Otto Henze like trains so he named it after the Pennsylvania Railroad.

Maybe I should have made this a multiple choice quiz.

SWIM JIG · Post by **SWIM JIG** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 2:06 am

jump usa, as my history claims, the vom hoffs and Penn worked with each other? and as I have found out over 50 years ago and to this day, certain parts interchange within the 2 makers! Only real differance I find is in the hobbing of the gears seems as if both companies used the same shop to machine certain parts of the reels, then a split came about and each one of them went their separte ways! I have never been able to prove who made the hard rubber sideplates , however it was said that goodyear in akron ohio made the plates as well as plates for Pfluger and shakespere! Mike you have your facts in a good line, I trust you will do a series of articals on this subject in the ORCA mag! The other company named OCEAN CITY rounded out the same style of reel as the 2 other makers! Again more factual imput would be of help to the younger collectors! I had the good fortune of getting the reels used by my faimly that fished comercialy with all 3 makers of reels, VonHoffs, Penn and Ocean City! None had level winds do to the fact Cheaspeake and surounding rivers are salt water! My grandfather retired from comercial fishing in 1943! and I have had the reels from that date until now! Col. milton lorens aka swim jig of Amherst Ohio

fishbugman · Post by **fishbugman** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 8:38 am

Vom Hofe's & Penn's rubbing elbows at work? Was that William Penn or Ron (the PENNguin) Cey? I am just curious for more information on this link.

ReelMan1988 · Post by **ReelMan1988** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 10:10 am

Alot of history in your family swim jig!

m3040c · Post by **m3040c** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 10:50 am

Hello Fishbugman,

Was that William Penn you said. Well you are correct, William Penn is the founder of Pennsylvania.

Wow, that was short test.

The year Penn introduced the prototype models (1932) was also the 250th Anniversary of the founding of Pennsylvania and this was being celebrated with many items of memorabilia being floated around the country, Postal First Day covers traveling through the mails, etc. The country had a special awareness of the name Penn in 1932.
I believe Otto Henze was smart enough to capitalize on all this and name his company a name that everyone would recognize and relate to one of our countries most important events of the time. William Penn represents the United States in its purist form, his principles were a driving force in the creation of the United States Constitution. What better time to call a new company, Penn Reels.

Post by **john elder** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:19 pm

...and I would further bet that old Otto was smart enough to know that the first step in the process was to know the competition...he likely unzipped a few Vom Hofes to see what was inside, perhaps contributing to the exchangeable parts Milt referred to...without Ed knowing the game was on...

fishbugman · Post by **fishbugman** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 12:36 pm

This just dawned on me shortly after sunrise, why they call the newest deckhands on a sportfishing boat PennHenze. Stupid me always thought they were saying Pinheads. Maybe if I drink a little more alcohol with my meds, my brain will interpret the slurring properly so the confusion will end. Toyman, this is just a joke (IE: EiEiOh something that might cause someone to laugh) so please do not take it personally.

Some humor is dry, some humor is sloppy wet.

m3040c · Post by **m3040c** » Wed Aug 06, 2008 3:16 pm

I would love to see a Vom Hofe connection to Penn. I do not know anything about the makers confiding in each other. I agree with John Elder that Otto Henze may have used Vom Hofe reels for personal guidance. I know that their were disagreements between Penn and Enterprise and offers from Shakespere to Penn for Shakespere to market Penn reels under a Shakespere logo. There had to be a unspoken connection between Penn and Ocean City but I do not believe it was friendly and, of course, we all know that Ocean City got control of EVH before Otto Zwarg did after World War II. There are even catalogs which Ocean City and Edward Vom Hofe share, so how does Penn fit in? I believe that from about 1930 to about 1950 there was all kinds of interesting goings on between these businesses that were all fighting for survival and dominance over a massive world market. So the question I try to answer sometimes is, how come the new kid on the block (Penn Reels) seems to become the dominant force for the majority of the salt water market

I have been fishing since I was kid (back when the Earth's crust was cooling

) and from Party Boat rental gear to personal gear, 99% of what I remember being used was Penn. I remember old timers saying how much better Ocean City reels were than Penn but they almost always had Penn reels on their rods. There was just something about Penn that grabbed the saltwater working class folks, it goes deeper than just the lower price. The look and usefulness of the product filled the need and the price helped it along.

Today I see people fishing with more imported gear than ever before and even Penn has been sold to a overseas owner. I guess American affordable products are now history. Maybe we need another Depression to bring them back.

SWIM JIG · Post by **SWIM JIG** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 12:53 am

jump canadian usa , Ok so the way we do this is rather easy! boat shops and their dockage areas, most all of the dealers sold reels and had spare parts for them, also when boats are junked? its a treasure chest to be cleaned out! As I live on fresh water, ie lake Erie its a easy thing to find reels, rods etc! These old clunks we ORCANs want so badly are all over the place! tackle shops , some took in a reel in trade on a new one! and that goes even in this day and age! Most all the reels used now on the great lakes are Line counters, NO MORE ANTIQUES for these folks! So this old fool gets these dealers to allow up to $5.00 for a CLUNK PENN! also ask around as Penn also used parts kits for fast repairs ie a handle or end cap! Now this is a wee bit of work, however its at least safer than buying off EBAYs flea market and getting a salt infested reel thats total JUNK! You can actualy see what you buy at the dealer or boat dealer! another sorce is wholesale bait dealers, they know where all the clunks are! I service 27 dealers in my repair business so its eazy for me, however any of you can do the same! As for these elusive older Penns? they are still around so keep your eyes open ! yard sales, Church sales, GOOD WILL Stores all this is a wonderful hunting grounds for all of you! Remeber, its us collectors that want early reels and paperwork, the fisher person wants the new off shore JUNK! Now let the hunt begin! (Mike , email me with your email address, as I dont see you listed in ORCA or NFLCC directories!) Col. Milton lorens aka swim jig of Ohio on the south shore of Lake Erie,

fishbugman · Post by **fishbugman** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 9:21 am

m3040c wrote:I would love to see a Vom Hofe connection to Penn. Maybe we need another Depression to bring them back.

So, from Colonel Milts last response, I gather that there is no direct relationship link between Penn and Vom Hofe, no history that they rubbed elbows or worked side by side on anything other than maybe catching fish off the pier.

Second part of quote looks well underway as we type...

m3040c · Post by **m3040c** » Sun Sep 21, 2008 11:39 am

Well, there is a direct / indirect link. The creator of Penn (Otto Henze) worked for Ocean City first. Then Otto Henze left Ocean City and created Penn. Then Ocean City bought Vom Hofe. So the creator of Penn worked for the company that owned Vom Hofe for a while. In the late 1940's, Penn experimented with Ocean City designs, even to the degree of creating prototypes of Ocean City products. At the same time there were ex-Vom Hofe employees working for Ocean City. So:

[1920's]----> Ocean City + Otto Henze = Link

[1930's]----> Otto Henze leaves Ocean City and creates Penn. = Broken Link

[1940's]----> Ocean City + Edward Vom Hofe = Link
EVH employees + Ocean City = Link
Otto Henze(Penn) + Ocean City type designs = Link
Consequently:
Ocean City + Vom Hofe + Penn = Link

Geez, if I keep up this spin on these Link's I could become a Republican.

Maybe someday I will have the time to put all this together. As for now, the direct link is more like the "Missing Link", we know it exists but can not put a finger on it. Possibly, we have made the link and do not know it yet or the link is a complicated series of old world business and new world business related ideas and infringements. The connection between the companies we are talking about seems to be a broken circle rather than a neat timeline.

Milt, my email is:

Mod F Mod K Penn Reels

now thats the answere taht is needed!

name posible however!!

Let the search get started!!