Rolls Eng Co reel ?

[Paul M]

Looking for info on Rolls Eng Co reel. It was posted in a Facebook Group and we don’t seem to have anything on it. Reminds me of the Mel stinger reel but with an engine finish.

[Mike N]

This is going to be a good test, Paul. I spent 90 minutes on various search engines, using various terms, and found no patent or business directory information. I did find an estate sale offering one of the reels at auction.

I suppose “Rolls Eng” is short for Rolls Engineering, but it could also stand for Engine or England, I suppose. The contemporary use of ENG is Electronic News Gathering.

Nothing from the California Secretary of State business organizations search. Even defunct corporations normally can be found on a state’s SOS website listed as “inactive.”




A date range of manufacture might help for city directory searchers. Looks like 1960s to me.


I’ll keep poking around.

Mike N

[wrong99]

Another Rolls.
https://junksave.com/item/vintage-rolls ... nstruction

[spadej1]

There isn’t really any more information, but this has come up here before:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16722&hilit=Rolls+eng

[Mike N]

There isn’t really any more information, but this has come up here before:

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=16722&hilit=Rolls+eng

Man, 5 years later and none the wiser. That’s depressing.

Mike N

[Alan Baracco]

Mike,

For California at least, business incorporation records have not been digitized. You have to go the the Sec. of States office in downtown Sacramento and they will search on business name. Then it is to the Archives Building next door, give the information to the person, he will disappear into the stacks and bring back the file. Amazing!! That is how I got the Mel Stringer incorp file that Paul mentioned and we put in our article.

A caution, however, many small entities (especially on the production side) did not incorporate, they only needed local permits. Incorporation was needed to sell or distribute products, especially if going across state lines.

I will check on Rolls the next time I go downtown, I live about 30 miles away.

Alan

[Mike N]

Wow, Alan. I just figured hey, it’s California, everything is digitized...

As far as incorporating, in most states it’s improper to call yourself a “company” (Co. as was done here) or add “Inc.” unless you have filed articles of incorporation. But who knows about 60 years ago...

Mike N.

[colby sorrells]

Also don't forget - a company can incorporate in a different state. Delaware has many corporations that are actually located in another state. Cheaper incorporation process. I'm currently working on 2 different old tackle companies both located in Texas that stated they were incorporated. But they were not incorporated in the state of Texas, the records have been checked and re-checked. So either they simply said they were incorporated when in fact they were not or they were incorporated in another state. Kind of like stating your old tackle item was patented when in fact it was not!

Texas, as some other states do, only has the records digitized back to 1972. Dead corporations before 1972 are still in the old files and have to be searched as Alan described. Fortunately some states have digitized all of their old records which makes the search must easier. Many can be accessed on-line.

This does not mean state incorporation papers are not a valuable research tool because they are a great way to discover the beginnings of many old tackle companies. Sometimes the search is just a little more difficult.

Keepin' It Fun!

Colby

[reeltackle]

Just to add to the confusion a little bit, here is a reel marked Herter's Genuine Rolls Fishing Reel. This reel was made by J.W. Young & Sons who made the same reel for themselves and marketed it as the "Gildex".

Herters "Rolls" reel



J.W. Young & Sons "Gildex" reel