did every US state make reels???

[Teal]

Was thinking about why Minnesota did not produce more fishing reel makers that it did, considering the fact that there are probably more per capita fisherpeople in the Land of 10,000 Lakes than anywhere else...An ORCA search for "Minnesota" came up with this posting (along with an interesting debate about Pennell) that was active before I got here...

How could you forget Johnson Reels of Mankato, MN? Surely the Johson Century has to be one of the best selling reels of all-time.

As I am penning a short history of Janney-Semple-Hill Co., a Minneapolis-based wholesaler who sold trade reels, I ran across this short piece that might be of interest to ORCAns:

http://orcaonline.org/images/pixel.gif?History.cfm

As this is the Golden Anniversary of the Johnson Century, would it not be fitting if someone wrote a nice little piece on this reel for the Reel News? Isn't someone on the board tracking Johnson reels?

--Dr. Todd E.A. Larson

P.S. Ol' George Herter never manufactured any fishing reels himself, so you can scatch that one off the list. Likewise Bourne & Bond was a wholesale hardware store, so nix them too.

[Ben]

Hi
Here is another list:
American Classic Sales--- UT.
Berkley--- Spirit Lake, Iowa is now Pure Fishing Group
Bradco Prod. ---Mass.
O'Brian Ind.----Calf.
Harrison Ind. ---Newark, NJ Auto-Max reel
Precision Spinnreel inc.--- Mich.
Rado Mfg.----- Mich.
Rogue Sports products inc.----Ore.
Taggart specialties inc.--- Ind.
Target Tackle inc.---Mich.
Fihe Enterprises---- Calf.
Mansfield ind. inc.----ILL.
W. C. Mfg. co. ----Racine, Wis.
Sierra Angling equip. co.---- Reno, Nev. the Dragonfly reel
Karge and Son--- Brockport, NY Ball on Ball Reel
Horrocks-Ibbotson co. ---Utica, NY
Martin--- Mohawk, NY
Usland inc.---Spring Valley, NY
The Charles Garcia Corp. NJ
Van Staal--Conn. Now Owned by Zebco
Trade Reels:
Salmo---Ny,Ny
Thommon sports equip. co.---Ny,Ny
Gliebe---Brooklyn, NY
J. C. Penney---Ny,Ny
Old Pal--Pa.
Abercrombie and Fitch---NY
Cortland Line Co.---- Ny ofsr's by Alcedo,Italy
G. Pucci and Son's inc.---San Fran. Calf.
Orvis----Vt. ofsr's by Zangi and Coptes of Italy
L. L. Bean---Maine
Le Trappeur inc.---Calf. and Mass.
Ken-Cor----Calf.
sorry if I have any duplicates listed
Ben

[SR2008]

Seems like ORCA had/has a list of reels by state of manufacture. I didn't see Kansas on that one, but do have a reel - a James - in a box saying it is from Independence Kansas.

[Dick Braun,that-zebco-guy]

I vote for a full story line in the Reel News, listing the state and the reel and years of production. I think it would be a great sorce of knowledge for everyone.

[SilasTerry]

Connecticut:

I know the Star Reel Works was already listed but did anyone mention Whiting and Hendrick?

And another one that is not all that old but does get attention is the Van Staal spinning reel company, founded in Fairfield CT in 1987.


A couple more modern reelmakers in the collection:

New York:
Richard Bradley

New Hampshire:
David Robichaud

Do these count?


Dan I

[Brian F.]

There's a list that, if I'm not mistaken, compiled all the contributions in this thread - not sure where it left off. You can find it on the Fishing Reel Research Site built from the ground up by Reel Geezer with help from ORCA friends.

[Reel Geezer]

Brian, I don't believe the list was updated. I gave that domain and website to ORCA 18 months ago, but I don't think anything has been done with it.

[el Lawrence]

I started to read through this post this morning and thought I had inadvertently discovered a way to communicate with "the other side" through "Reel Talk"... It wasn't until I noticed posts dating to 2005 (thanks for the date/time stamp) that I realized it was just a great subject we keep coming back to (with some wonderful input from a few members that are now only with us in spirit) that had been bumped to a front position and drew my attention again... still that fleeting moment/feeling when I saw the posts from the great beyond will make my day reel nice.

Thanks for the update!

[qwapaw]

How about the Simplicity Reel from Portland Oregon. Dan

[BirdDog]

Another Minnesota reel would be the PERRINE REEL

[cws/carl schultz]

found this back in archives and what a great thread [can you tell I need more to read] as EL said in the last posting to bring it back it was great to get info from friends not here any more I saw phil had said he had turned over the site to orca but I dont know if any one is doing anything with it I would do it but am truely computer illiterate I just feel its a shame to have this much info and not continue to connect the dots also this was right about the time my puter was stolen and the next 4 yrs were to bring major changes for me medically but now ready to go