Earliest of the Cradle Reels??

[john elder]

Mike Farrior was fortunate to obtain this very early Coxe cradle reel from the family of George Thomas, who was President of the Avalon Tuna Club in 1925(note: edited, based on post by Ed Pritchard below!). George's record for the largest broadbill swordfish caught on linen line in 1927 (573lbs), still stands today. George obtained this 9/0 cradle directly from Coxe, which given it's early characteristics and lack of markings, was likely made in the late teens or early '20s, prior to his patent for the locking drag granted in 1924 and before Kovalovsky, Stead, Klein, Edward Vom Hofe or Ocean City came out with cradle-style reels . Note the lack of the usual markings on the handle for an L. A. Coxe and there is no patent date on the foot as occurs on later reels.



Some features include a clicker button that's readily adjustable with an external screw (riveted in place later); fairly typical clicker; only a single anti-reverse dog; typical two drag stack, but only one drag washer present (not the first time I have seen only one washer used); and overall style as used in the quick takeapart models, with spindle released by removal of the nut on the back plate side and extraction from the front plate. However, there is no spring-loaded release on the back plate knob and breakdown requires that elusive Coxe wrench:







Overall, the reel is elegant in it's simplicity with lots of strength and absolute minimum of moving parts



In spite of the provenance on the reel, it had certainly been rode hard and put away wet, loaded with a hodgepodge of rotten linen line and missing spring for the anti reverse and a washer critical to getting the drag to work properly. It's all cleaned up now and working properly.






The trigger on the drag is now working properly...when set, it keeps the drag in an off or light drag setting; flick the lever and a spring is released, allowing the drag to be tightened:

trigger set:


Trigger released:


thoughts from the salty boys??

[Midway Tommy D]

Cool find, John!

[1badf350]

Awesome rig John! I bet the big fella in MA would love that!

[Jay White]

Wow! What a great reel and a piece of history too. Great job on cleaning her up John. Thanks for sharing!!

[BAP-62]

VERY nice reel.

[Jay White]

Nice collection Brian!!

[Teal]

Dang that is sweet! What a great reel and a nice job cleaning, of course. Neat piece of history!

So you're think 1917-1920 era?

-- Dr. Todd

[54bullseye]

Yeah John that is a neat old cradle ! Great job of cleaning it up. Did you add a drag washer ? One of those old ball type gimbals like on the Stead cradle with just the one slot would look nice. I am not sure they were around at that date or not ? Doesn't look like much provision for holding a rod in place ?? Not even a hole drilled for a screw ? Is there any thing inside the tube ? Again great job cleaning and thanks for the pictures !
John Taylor PS I will PM you my address for shipping it !

[john elder]

Todd, yes, that is Mike's thought on timing. Pre patent but had developed the drag control the patent was all about.

John, yes, made a washer and added... just cringe about metal on metal connections, even though it won't be used. Spacing is also critical and the thickness of a washer can make a difference in the fit.

[reeltackle]

Mike sure has some great reels and it so nice of him, and you John, to share them with us.

An L.A. built Coxe cradle, well I'll be, first one I have seen and glad to see it! I'm with you on speculating that it is perhaps the first cradle reel built for big game fishing. The cradle has wonderful lines and I sure admire the cradles aesthetics. I would concur with both you and Mike and say it is a very early Coxe reel as well. Most "Featherstone Broardbill" reels had the spring loaded pin release built into the knurled nut on the rear side-plate for taking the reel apart. I would speculate along with you that since this reel has the round nut with holes that it would be an earlier example.

Odd thing that the reel is unmarked though as you just don't see unmarked Coxe reels ever. Although I believe this reel to be a very early example, I don't think that its lack of a makers stamp is necessarily an indication of its age, I believe that it means that the reel just left the factory unmarked. I have seen Coxe reels that I believe to be earlier than this reel that were marked in some way, shape, or form either with the name stamped on the drag adjuster or stamped on the foot. I do find it very interesting however that one slipped out of the factory without some sort of marking.

The cradle looks to be made of German silver, is this the case? It sure looks heavy, how much does it weigh?

One small correction. There were two big game angling George C. Thomas's,
George C. Thomas Jr. and George C. Thomas III.
Both belonged to the Tuna Club and both served as president, George Jr. in 1925, and George III in 1940. According to The History of the Tuna Club (1948) by Arthur N. Macrate Jr. they were the only father and son to ever to do so. Together the Thomas father and son team wrote a book on big game fishing titled Game Fish of the Pacific and I would highly recommend it to anyone interested in Tuna Club and big game fishing history, it is a great read and has some great photos. I just breezed through the book again hoping to find a picture of the Coxe cradle reel, but, had no luck. There are photos of George III fishing with Coxe reels but George Jr. appears to have had other reel preferences.

Pacific Game Fishing By George Jr and the III - A great read!



Passage from the 1948 edition of History of the Tuna Club



Seeing this reel sure made my day, thanks John, and thanks to Mike too!

[wrong99]

Since it seems to be the only Coxe cradle reel of its type ever found and the only Coxe reel that was unmarked, doesn't the possibility exist that it's a one-of-a-kind prototype?
Mark

[john elder]

Thanks for that important correction, ed! I should read more carefully! Mike will be upset i managed to screw that up, since i was taking it directly from his newer Tuna Club history book... did not see the jr and III designations!

Mark, in those days, virtually every reel Joe Coxe turned out was a prototype, MHO! I don't think he settled into a consistent production line until around 1924-25.

[m3040c]

Thank you very much for sharing this John. it is a super fine piece of history and you were the perfect person to bring it back to how it was meant to be.

[reeltackle]

I hope I am not thread hijacking but here is a cool go along item for George C. Thomas III and Coxe reels.

Holm big game leader on a card featuring George C. Thomas III with a 715 pound Nova Scotia Bluefin tuna and a Coxe reel. Thomas III was a member of the Sharps Cup Team in 1938 and then after the war in 1948 and was the Captain of the 1950 team. In the photo of the 1948 team members of the U.S. team are holding their rods and reels, Thomas III is still fishing with his trusty Los Angeles Coxe reel.

[Jay White]

I like it Ed!

[joe klaus]

Great job John. That is truly a beautiful reel.