Need help ID'ing a brass ball handle reel

[Richard Lodge]

I acquired this recently from a long-time collector and would be curious if anyone can ID the maker, or offer any information to shine a little light on this reel. It has the number 5 stamped under the foot and screw-off oil cap on the back. Thanks!
Richard

[Jason]

My guess would be Julius vom Hofe. We'll probably never know for sure but one feature that stands out on your reel is that the headplate is larger than the headcap. You will see a lot of trade reels like BA&W, Marsters, and North that were made in the 1880's and 1890's like that. The only two known makers I've seen like that were marked Conroy, Bissett & Malleson (and post 1881 C&B) and Julius vom Hofe. I don't know much about CB&M but somewhere along the way, their reels stopped looking like Conroys and more like vom Hofes. I suspect Julius, like his father was one of the biggest suppliers of trade reels in NY.
The knurled bearing cap is unusual. it could be a replacement or might have been the flavor of the week.

Some Kopf reels have headplates like this but I've never seen one with a ball handle and they always have other Kopf like features.

[Steve]

I agree with Jason, but for other reasons. The foot structure and decoration around the tailplate oil cap are very "vom Hofe-looking," most likely Julius.

At my request, Richard sent some additional photos, including these:


Here are pics of other VH reels, the left and center ones being JVH, the right ones being EVH:


The foot intersection with the crossbridge of Richard's reel is just like those on the VH reels, especially the JVH reels.
The concentric grooves around the oil caps are also similar to those on the VH reels. The knurling on Richard's oil cap is a new one on me, but it's a trivial detail.

[Richard Lodge]

Thank you, Jason and Steve. This is very educational. It's especially interesting to be able to study the photos you included. I was hoping the oil bearing cap was some kind of unique "signature" for a maker, but I suspect you are right, Jason, in theorizing it could have been "the flavor of the week" at the factory. Thanks again.
Richard

[Paul Roberts]

Very nice. Very pretty reel.

[Shellbelly]

Assuming the knob is wood, do the turnings offer any clues or are these also random choices by the maker?

[Steve]

I don't know what "random choices" means. IMHO, the grasp shapes of many of these earlier reels don't help ID the reels. My gut feeling is that the reelmakers may have bought their grasps from shops that specialized in turning, whether it was wood, rubber, even ivory or bone. These are examples of grasps on reels by (left to right) Crook, Conroys Makers, Guthrie, and Lewis.

[Shellbelly]

"Random choices" was used in the same vein as "flavor of the week" was used earlier in the thread in reference to a bearing cap. It's interesting to know (for me, at least) that even the earliest makers used 3rd party decorative pieces instead of keeping such custom work "in-house".

[Steve]

My gut feeling is that the reelmakers may have bought their grasps...

It's interesting to know (for me, at least) that...

N.B. "Gut feeling" refers to a possibility, not an historical fact. If I had been spending my time cutting gears, stamping out sideplates, threading holes in metal parts, etc., I might not want to bother having to turn a gazillion little wooden grasps in my shop if I could buy them over on the next block. But that's just me. Remember that a lot of those wooden reels with Meisselbach, Cozzone, Yale, et al., markings were probably made by a faucet company.

[Jason]

I might not want to bother having to turn a gazillion little wooden grasps in my shop if I could buy them over on the next block.

Or operate a hot dirty brass foundry for those reel feet when there's a guy down the street already set up to do it.

[Steve]

Or operate a hot dirty brass foundry for those reel feet when there's a guy down the street already set up to do it.

Ironically, that "guy down the street," like Hartill, decides to start making reels.

[Shellbelly]

And, "down the street" , "around the corner" the cycle begins again. The wood turner gets to....grasp....some more business making ....knobs.