Redifor Beetzsel w/"Redifor" vs: only the fish logo

ORCA Online Forum - Feel free to talk or ask about ALL kinds of old tackle here, with an emphasis on old reels!
Post Reply
Reelman2
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 302
Joined: Sun Jan 01, 2006 5:00 pm
Location: Deland, Florida

Redifor Beetzsel w/"Redifor" vs: only the fish logo

Post by Reelman2 »

I had someone tell me that the Redifor Beetzsel with just the fish logo was the 1st version and the one with the logo that says Redifor is the second version. I always thought it was vice versa.
Collect mostly Ky style reels; Meek, Heddon, Horton, Pflueger Redifor and Worth, etc.

ORCA Member
User avatar
Ron Mc
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3384
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2004 7:49 am
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Contact:

Re: Redifor Beetzsel w/"Redifor" vs: only the fish logo

Post by Ron Mc »

Ad in the back of 1918 Outdoor Protective Association Bulletin
shows the reel with the fish logo

https://www.google.com/books/edition/Bu ... frontcover

I would think that since Beetzsel was introduced in 1914, and Pflueger was using Redifor as a trademark on the centrifugal brake reel patent they bought from Redifor in 1915, the Redifor-marked reel was first, and the Fish-logo reel was second.
After 1915, you never see "Redifor Beetzsel" in print - it's always "The Beetzsel"
Image
User avatar
John Savu
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 249
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2003 4:53 pm
Location: Ohio

Re: Redifor Beetzsel w/"Redifor" vs: only the fish logo

Post by John Savu »

The chronology of the BEETZSEL can make you scratch your head. Then, when you throw in one with markings like this, with an apparent Shakespeare handle, it becomes more confusing. I also had a BEETZSEL 20-16, with a CB handle. One thing for sure, the Washington DC BEETZSEL, is the last, not the first. John
Image
User avatar
Ron Mc
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3384
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2004 7:49 am
Location: downtown Bulverde, Texas
Contact:

Re: Redifor Beetzsel w/"Redifor" vs: only the fish logo

Post by Ron Mc »

Stefan posted his ATO article
Stefan Duma wrote: Sat Feb 05, 2005 6:27 am I wrote an article on this reel in issue 39 of the A.T.O. and the text is as follows

I had been aware of this company and it’s products for many years having read an article about them in the 1980’s. When I finally managed to get hold of one of their reels I thought it was time to let you know about them.
The Redifor Rod & Reel was formed by George W Upton in about 1904 in Warren Ohio.
He was later joined by Benjamin F. Flegel as General Manager in about 1908. These two inventive Americans took out many patents for fishing tackle.
I have found 12 US patents for tackle that the pair of them invented, either individually or together. The majority of the patents are for reels but three cover rod handles and one is for an automatic hook.
The first reel made by the company is the Redifor Multiplying Fly reel sold by Abercrombie & Fitch. When I first saw this reel it reminded me very much of the Hardy Silex multiplying reels.
However in this reel the handles sit on a flat disc that rotates around the central spindle therefore keeping the handle within the confines of the endplate.
It had a 3:1 multiplication and a capacity of 80 yards. With it’s option of free spool available by simply throwing a thumb nut, it could also be used for bait casting.
It was made of aluminium with nickel silver side plates. The gears and pinion were English steel and phosphor bronze used for the bearings.
By 1910 two versions of this reel were available, the model X and the model B. The first model had no free spool and had been upgraded to a 4:1 ratio. It sold for $9.00
The model B had the same ratio but had the throw off free spool which made it a slightly heavier reel and it sold for $15.00.
According to the catalogue descriptions of the reel it was made from a variety of metals including “Redifor metal”, (this was described as being lighter than aluminium and very strong) and Combination metal (which was as light as aluminium and very strong).
This could have been one of the many new alloys that were appearing around this time and the Redifor could have been magnesium.
In 1908 Benjamin Flegel was granted patent 881,850 which covered the workings for a new reel. This was the Redifor Self Thumbing reel also known as the Anti Back-Lash reel. This reel had an anti backlash device as per the patent. It sold for $6.00 and was two inches in diameter with a capacity of 80 yards and like all the other reels a 4:1 ratio.
An improved version of the reel was offered later with the addition of Jewell end caps for $1.50 extra.
With his background as a Jeweller and his interest in tournament casting it was inevitable that he would produce this type of tackle.
Sometime around 1910 there was a problem with the company and production of the reels ceased for a time.
One theory is that the factory burnt down caused by the machining of magnesium metal. The company continued to exist but was sold to Pflueger.
Benjamin Flegal with no job, had left the company in 1911 and started his own business whilst still working on the fishing reels.
By 1913 the Self Thumbing reel had been granted the Model F designation and was available in two different materials: Nickel plate or gun metal and again the option of Jewelled end caps was offered.
The Anti-Back-Lash reel was sold to Pflueger and described in their catalogue as the Pflueger–Redifor-Anti-Back-Lash reel. They sold it from 1915 until 1928 when it disappeared from the catalogues.
An improvement to this reel was made in 1915 when patent 1,140,779 was issued. This was an improvement on the patent of Gilmore granted in 1907 and the Flegals of 1908 and was granted solely to George Upton.
The next reel that the company introduced was described in the 1910 Abercombie & Fitch catalogue as the Model D Free-Spool Bait Casting Reel and sold for $20.
This reel used the same principle that we were to see employed by the Rivers Company of Sweden on the Expert reel. You simply cast the bait out and free spool would automatically be engaged.
This was a high quality reel at $20 one of the most expensive reels on the market.
In the same year they offered a tournament reel and again it was included in the 1910 Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue.
The reel was a joint venture between tournament caster Lou S. Darling and Benjamin Flegel. What made this reel different from other tournament reels on the market was It consisted of two spools.
The line is on the right hand spool and the caster uses his thumb on the left hand spool thereby never having to put his thumb on the line and potentially slow down the cast.
A thumb rest was also included in the construction of the reel ensuring that the thumb was always in the same place on every cast. It also had the throw off facility of the Model D Free-Spool reel.
This, at $25 was the most expensive reel the company made. Another version at $20 was available but it had no thumb rest and only one spool. It was designated the Flegel Tournament reel.
In 1915 Flegel was granted patent 1,151,349 for a very ingenious device. It was the Redifor Spooler, designed to fit on the front of any makers reel it only worked when the line was being retrieved. When the cast was being made it threw the spooler out of gear. It sold for $3.00 and was available in three sizes.
Although the patent was granted in 1915 it was actually being sold in 1910 and the application being submitted the year before.
In 1915 the Beetzsel reel was introduced. The name came from the saying that the reel “Beats all” and it is the most famous reel that the company made. This is due to the fact that there are more of them available to the collector than the other reels the company made.
This reel incorporated all the good ideas that the two men had introduced in their reel making endeavours. It had the automatic free spool to disengage the gears, the level wind only operated when the line was being retrieved when casting out it did not engage, thus ensuring friction free casting.
Three patents for level winds and their improvements were used on this reel. 1,212,288 in 1917 by Upton, 1,282,990 in 1918 by Upton and Flegel, and finally in November 1918 1,284,193 by Upton.
The reel or the design was eventually sold to Shakespeare who continued to make the reel until 1934.
Benjamin Flegel had left Ohio and moved to Racine in Wisconsin where he manufactured automatic lighting products.
George Upton died in Warren sometime in the early 1920’s as there is a reference in the 1925 Shakespeare catalogue to the late George Upton.
These reels are superbly made and are very much sought after. I was really lucky to acquire my example.
I have not been able to produce more pictures of the other reels made by the company as I have been unable to find any.
I do have a copy of the 1910 Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue but the quality is not that good.

Stefan Duma
Alan Baracco
Advanced Board Poster
Posts: 323
Joined: Fri Jan 16, 2004 1:52 pm
Location: Shingle Springs CA

Re: Redifor Beetzsel w/"Redifor" vs: only the fish logo

Post by Alan Baracco »

For the good of the order,

George Whitman Upton (AKA George Washington Whitman Upton in early life), born June 1, 1857 in Sutter Township near Sacramento CA, about 20 miles from where I live (and also 20 miles from where gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill in 1849) was quite the fellow. Descended from a family that came to America in 1635, educated at West Point and graduated from Columbian University, became a lawyer and settled in Warren Ohio with his wife Harriet in 1884, no children. Died April 16, 1923, obituaries in the Warren Ohio Evening Star, and in newspapers in Arkansas, Boston, and Washington D. C. Stef covered the "reel" stuff very well, maybe this gives a little about him as a person.

Alan
joe klaus
Super Board Poster
Posts: 566
Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2003 6:02 pm
Location: Houston

Re: Redifor Beetzsel w/"Redifor" vs: only the fish logo

Post by joe klaus »

I'm not sure if these pics add anything new to this discussion, but below are pics of my Beetzel in box with paperwork. The paperwork is fragile and I did not want to take it out of its covering but you can easily see that it mentions Washington DC.
But my impression is that the reel itself was Warren O. So....perhaps the paperwork came from a different source??? Or, perhaps I'm confused by all of this.


User avatar
Steve
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3940
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2003 6:11 am
Contact:

Re: Redifor Beetzsel w/"Redifor" vs: only the fish logo

Post by Steve »

In 1923, the Uptons were living in Stoneleigh Court in D.C. George died on April 1 of that year, and I don't know exactly when they moved there. They had been living elsewhere the previous year. In any case, the mark on the paper suggests that it was at least packaged ca.1923, though maybe printed earlier.

Steve Vernon
ORCA Honorary member

Book: ANTIQUE FISHING REELS, 2nd Ed.
Websites:
Antique Fishing Reels
Kopf reels
Hendrick reels

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."
colby sorrells
Super Board Poster
Posts: 609
Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 11:15 am

Re: Redifor Beetzsel w/"Redifor" vs: only the fish logo

Post by colby sorrells »

Upton's wife was a member of the National Republican Committee. She was very active in the women's suffrage movement.
George W. Upton was nominated for a position on the Federal Trade Commission but was rejected by the senate.
The 1719 K Street address in Washington DC was used by Geo. W. Linkins a real estate and renting agent. He had this address from at least 1920 through 1923.
The Upton's no doubt spent a lot of time in Washington DC during these last few years of his life.

Maybe this helps.

Keepin' It Fun!

Colby
User avatar
Steve
Star Board Poster
Posts: 3940
Joined: Sun Sep 14, 2003 6:11 am
Contact:

Re: Redifor Beetzsel w/"Redifor" vs: only the fish logo

Post by Steve »

The K Street address was a Redifor office address in D.C. Harriet moved to D.C. in 1920, after the 19th Amendment was passed and she was elected vice-chair of the Republican National Executive Committee. I'm not sure that George moved there at the same time. A 1922 directory showed her address as 1736 Columbia Rd NW, and George was not listed. The 1923 directory showed them both residing at Stoneleigh Court, but they had moved there earlier. She lost a race for Congress in 1924 and returned to Warren. More details in Reel News, July, 2020.

1921 ad:
1922 ad:

Steve Vernon
ORCA Honorary member

Book: ANTIQUE FISHING REELS, 2nd Ed.
Websites:
Antique Fishing Reels
Kopf reels
Hendrick reels

"Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."
Post Reply