Were the Pflueger's Freemasons?

[Deepfins791]

I just picked up a set of Pflueger Atlapacs in nice leather cases. The cases have metal tags on them inscribed with the name, "Pflueger Atlapac", the size of the reel, and the symbol of two skeleton keys crossed. This symbol is also stamped on the leather cases, the crank handles of the reels, and on the reel seats. I did some research online and found that this symbol has masonic and religious roots. This set of reels could have simply been owned by a mason. But then it was pointed out to me that the word "Templar", as in Pflueger Templar also has masonic roots. Does anyone know if any of the Pfluegers were masons, or does anyone have any Pflueger tackle that is stamped/inscribed with any interesting, potentially masonic symbols?

Cheers,
John

[reeltackle]

Not sure about the Freemason aspect but I am sure that the reels, and the cases in particular, are just plain killer!
Congrats on a great find!
Will be looking forward to replies on this one.

[Wayne B.]

John...What a find!!! Congratulations!

[Tightlines666]

Nice!

[Midway Tommy D]

That's about a once in a lifetime find, especially as a family! Very cool!

[RonG]

That's what I call "Bringing Home the Bacon." Congratulations.

[Mike N]

Great find and even greater research question.

According to this 1908 history of Summit County, Ohio, Mr. Pfleuger was a Knight Templar and belonged to all of the Masonic branches in Akron.

https://books.google.com/books?id=tt0yA ... er&f=false

[Deepfins791]

Thanks, everyone, and thanks Mike for providing a copy of the article! I believe the mystery is solved. I just had a lengthy phone conversation with Kiwi Doug, whose grandfather held a very high position in the masons. A friend of Doug's, who is currently a mason indicated the crossed key symbol is the symbol for the lodge Treasurer. It could be these reels were custom ordered by someone who held that position.

Cheers,
John

[oc1]

Well, that takes reel collecting to a new level. A remarkable find.

As a side note, the article misspells Aransas when noting that J.E. Pflueger was Corresponding Secretary for the Aransas Pass Tarpon Club in Tarpon, Texas. Tarpon, Texas is now called Port Aransas, across the bay from Aransas Pass. The home base for the club was the Tarpon Inn which was destroyed and rebuilt, yet again, by the hurricane of 1916. As Corresponding Secretary he submitted a short article about the club and its luminaries to Field and Stream magazine in 1909, a copy of which can be found on line.
-steve

[Mike N]

From reference.com:

"A corresponding secretary, unlike a recording secretary, does not regularly take the minutes of meetings held by the entity or its executive board. Rather, the Corresponding Secretary maintains communications with those outside the entity, including business partners, financial institutions, creditors and officers of other entities. The corresponding secretary presents the public voice of the organization and receives correspondence and materials on its behalf. A corresponding secretary is typically part of the executive leadership of the entity and aids in managerial duties as needed."

[Paul M]

Great find and great information! Thanks.

Paul M

[Brian F.]

Great find, John! Nice looking reels. Just some observations: The crank knobs are in the usual shape of the early version Atlapacs but the materials appear to be different from what you normally see from the factory. While the center and right knobs look to be hard rubber, the usual appearance is more of an orange color with black "swirls" (for lack of a better term). The colors on the left knob look to be more in line but it appears to be wood, just going by what I think are grain lines that appear more straight.

The bags have some variation also, aside from the color of the left blue green one. The 4/0 looks to be all original, cord threaded thru holes in the bag included. The 6/0 and 9/0 have grommets that I've never seen before and the 9/0 has a different cord.

Just my opinion but less like this is something that came from Pflueger and maybe more like someone made the cases, along with the 9/0 bag, and put the reels into them.

I remember someone writing about the Masonic connection before and maybe it was Dr. Todd. He should see this sometime soon.

One thing a lot of people miss is that there is often a serial number stamped onto the headplate trim ring, down near the foot. This was done later in production. Earlier versions (1920s to early 30s), like the doorknob style crank suggests, don't have the serial numbers visible.

[Brian F.]

Another pretty interesting thing that seems unique is that the 4/0 and 6/0 have pivoting harness lugs but those only came with the 9/0s. The 4/0 and 6/0 had fixed lugs. So maybe all three were put together by Pflueger. Pretty interesting set of reels all around!

[Deepfins791]

Thanks for the additional information, Brian. Attached is a picture of the fisherman who owned the reels. The collector who originally bought these reels from the family was given this photo, along with the reels. It appears the 4/0 Atlapac might be on the rod. I also attached a close up of the 4/0. The crank handle is stamped with the crossed keys symbol, San Diego, and 1931. I am guessing those are some very nice white seabass he is posing with, probably caught just off the CA coast. What are the chances anyone might be able to identify the fisherman??!!

Cheers,
John

[wrong99]

San Diego. Maybe there's a Tuna Club connection.
Mark

[Mike Franzen]

I
My guess is they were custom ordered from Pflueger. The Masonic connection is very intriguing. I wonder if the name Atlapac has some Masonic significance. It also might explain another mystery of these reels and that is why did they hide the beautiful jeweling on the inside of the reel. Photos courtesy of Mike C

[Brian F.]

Atlapac would come from the combination of Atlantic and Pacific but don't know if that has any Masonic connection.

Oregon based Zane Grey collector Dan Brock who has some experience in machining told me that finish, known as a "Damascene" finish, helps to hold oil in place better. It's also known as "engine turning" and jeweling, among others.

[Mike N]

I believe there is an Atlapac Fishing Club in Oahu, Hawaii.

I wonder if Mr. Pflueger was a member and named the reel after the club?

[Mike N]

According to this link, the Atlapac Fishing Club is the oldest shoreline fishing club in Hawaii, founded in 1926.

See page 7: http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/PFRP/soest_ ... tadata.pdf

"Schug (2001) gives a concise summary of Hawaiiʼs fishing industry from the 1820s to 1945. His account details the major demographic changes in Hawaiiʼs population, including the arrival of migrants from Europe, Asia, and the US mainland and their impacts on fishing
by the indigenous population of Hawaiians, particularly the shift from subsistence to commercial fishing. Recreational fishing in the conventional sense in Hawaii can trace its origins back to the early decades of the 20th Century. Gaffney (1999) includes a brief history of coastal fisheries in Hawaii, noting that modern sports fishing with rod and reel dates back to at least 1914 in Hilo. The oldest known shoreline fishing club in the Hawaiian Islands is the Atlapac Fishing Club formed in 1926, followed by the Honolulu Japanese Casting Club in 1929 and the Hilo Casting Club in 1933. There are presently some 26 fishing clubs in Hawaii, and a variety of different recreational fishing tournaments organized both by clubs and independent tournament organizers.

[Mike N]

The Atlapac reel was introduced by Pflueger in December 1928.

[Brian F.]

You caught what I was gonna say as I was typing. Yes, there is a club by that name, Mike, and their records indicate that the founding members named it after the reel. The SOEST info is a little dated but I pointed out to some of their members that I thought there might be an error on their start date of 1926 as the Atlapac wasn't advertised in Pflueger's catalogs until 1928. I don't believe Pflueger would have sold it two years earlier than that but the other possibility is that they did start in 1926 with a different name and then adopted the current one. The story was that they were all US Postal Service workers and there were several members who were known for using that expensive reel for surfcasting. They did associate with other fishermen that were in the banking business so they seemed to be a pretty well to do group. Some of my friends who were those associates from the banking industry were Masons too but I've never heard of a connection. One is still around today so I'll ask him but I'd be surprised if there was one.

[Mike N]

Well, Brian, it looks like we have a reel version of "what came first, the chicken or the egg?" Lol.