OK Mr. Vernon, When was the Golden Age?

[Teal]

Hi Steve,

I'm so busy I'm bored so I thought I'd distract myself (and maybe a few others) with a new topic. I saw you had referred to "The Golden Age of Fishing Tackle" in a recent post on clicks. What dates do you attribute to this? I have been thinking about this a bit lately and have come up with my own "division" if you will.

The Golden Age of Fishing Tackle: 1870-1900
The Silver Age: 1900-1940
The Modern (Bronze) Age: 1940-1980
Contemporary: 1980-Present

A few notes. First, anything before 1875 I would refer to as the "Paleoaurum Era" as my old Latin tutor might note; or "Before the Golden Era." And yes I know the prefix paleo is ancient Greek, but I was left with that or "anteaurum."

My rationale for 1870 as an arbitrary starting point for the Golden Age is that I just believe that the tackle trade was in its infancy still in the wake of the Civil War, but I can see the reasoning in moving it back to 1865.

Same with 1900; I chose that date as so many of the great makers from the Golden Age went under in the mid-to-late 1890s, so that by 1900 the tackle scene was very, very different. One could make an argument for 1914 but I don't think its as good.

Why 1940? Well, its the last full year before WWII, although I considered 1930 as a break-off point but I felt there were still too many classic reels being made into the 1930s. Besides something about the 1930s doesn't quite seem "modern" to me.

I'm fairly convinced anything under 25 years old is contemporary. But of course that will change in time.

Any thoughts?

Dr. Todd

[Steve]

No. I traded what was left of my thoughts for a nice unmarked reel from the Brass Age of tackle. BTW, the correct term for "before the Golden Age" is "a preauri." Obviously, you didn't really have a Latin tutor.

[Ron Mc]

IMO, Between The Wars is the Golden Age.

Before WWI, just about everything was specialized small shop work - check pre-WWI prices and calculate modern currency equivalents. IMO, this is also when the work that would become good tackle was being done. I have some c. 1900 example fly reels that the cast alloy is so soft that the reels are useless.

After WWII, marketing took over and quality took a nose dive (not that there wasn't nice tackle being made, including almost all of the cane rods that I fish).

Between the wars, production was high, there was still a close-to-hand manufacturing touch, and quality, classic tackle was being delivered en masse to the populace - to me, this is the Golden part. (And I will admit there were plenty of cheap manufacturing ideas that made it into production.)

If you're collecting Kentucky reels or ball-handle reels, you'll have a completely different perspective and opinion...


Here's Highfield's definitions:
Antique Prior to 1906
Vintage 1906 - 1946
Venerable 1946 - 1980
Out of Production 1981 - 2004

To me, Antique should include anything pre-WWI. It's not the clock on the years, it's the change of the era, the paradigm shift in society itself. 90% of the little shops closed with the war, and the ones that survived changed from manufacturing their own products to selling those made by others. So if your definition is the small shop work and the apprentice system, then 1914 is the cutoff of your Golden Age.

This is a great topic, Doc Teal, and I want to see how perspective affects the answer, so I'm going to post it on Clark's board, as well. Hope that's OK.

[reels4me,member]

. . . .to me is the era of CBH.

[Teal]

Steve,

Well, I'm sure Mr. Steinberg would be happy to know he was tutoring me in something other than Latin. As it stands, my grades were such that it may have seemed like what I was writing wasn't Latin anyway. He played football for Michigan State and was an awfully imposing individual, and he tutored me in Latin AND Russian which only hints at what kind of a sadistic guy he was.

As the Romans stole nearly everything from the Greeks anyway, including lots of prefixes, I wasn't alone in pilfering Ancient Greek for a new word. I like the majestic sounds of Paleoaurum (or Paleoauri if you are being a stickler about it). Makes John Conroy reels seem like they were chipped out of the ground with a flat masonry trowel. Preauri sounds like something viscous exuding from an open wound.

My Scandinavian Studies professors all complained about my odd "Norwedish" when I was studying Swedish as an undergrad after having been raised in a Norwegian household, so what can you do. Fy fan, as they would often say. My Norwegian granmother used to tell me "du har veps paa hodet ditt" (sorry computer won't let me use Bokmal characters) and I have never been able to disprove her.

By the way Ron, I have finished a neat little article on how to compare prices on fishing reels across time--so I think many will be surprised not just about how expensive reels were circa 1900 but in some ways, how cheap they were too. Look for it this Winter in the Reel News.

Interesting perspective on Golden, Ron. I prefer reels from the 1900-1940 period too, but that's because I am one of the few foolish enough to enjoy trade company history.

Cheers,

Dr. Todd

[Ron Mc]

Good answer from Gary Lacey, who builds Granger cane rods:

Now is the Golden Age. We now have the benefit of the knowedge of the past masters and I think most of our materials are equal to or better than what they had. Plus now with the internet you guys can shop till you drop.
Gary

[Steve]

Melner and Kessler's book title notwithstanding, it sounds as if "Golden Age" refers only to the period when your favorite reels were (or are) made. M&K included catalogs from 1839 to "after 1920," which covers a lot of ground. And Jack's Golden Age runs from the 1830s to Oct. 27, 2005. And if you collect things like Shimano spinning reels, your Golden Age may lie in the future.

Ron, I have to disagree with the timing of the "paradigm shift," at least as far as reels are concerned. Most of the little reelmaking shops of the nineteenth century had disappeared, and many of the makers had sold out to larger, more diversified companies by 1900. And these companies were capable of mass production of decent-quality reels well before WWI. A few continued to make extraordinary reels by hand, but I bet there are as many such makers now as there were in, say, 1910. And I still think that everything neat about reels, with the possible exceptions of spiral level-winds and computerized casting brakes, existed at least in embryonic form by 1900. For me, the Golden Age starts around 1910 and goes backward.

Dr. Teal, I'm surprised that, as a reel collector, you weren't speaking FinNorwegian. Seriously, though, Mr. Steinberg certainly had his work cut out for him, and he probably was more masochistic than sadistic. His coach couldn't have been too happy when your tutor was barking out plays like "quattuor et viginti dextrorsum."

Anyway, "Paleoaurum" doesn't mean pre-Golden. The word was coined a long time ago as the Greco-Roman version of a majestic brand of cigarettes. It arose a priori at a marketing meeting when Lorillard went global:

[Ron Mc]

Ron, I have to disagree with the timing of the "paradigm shift," at least as far as reels are concerned. Most of the little reelmaking shops of the nineteenth century had disappeared, and many of the makers had sold out to larger, more diversified companies by 1900. And these companies were capable of mass production of decent-quality reels well before WWI. A few continued to make extraordinary reels by hand, but I bet there are as many such makers now as there were in, say, 1910. And I still think that everything neat about reels, with the possible exceptions of spiral level-winds and computerized casting brakes, existed at least in embryonic form by 1900. For me, the Golden Age starts around 1910 and goes backward.

Steve, I think each of us defining our own golden age is where this has to go. I had considered noting about manufacturing in the US after the turn of the century, and especially how the economy was booming in 1910 to 1917. However, since I collect UK fly reels, I'll argue that my observations still fit.

[Richard Lodge]

So, the way I read one of your postings, Todd, I'm going to have to hire a Latin tutor to help me edit a piece you're writing for The Reel News this winter? Boy, I am in deep trouble.
Couple of random thoughts. Were I 30 years younger, I would definitely be pondering "hooking up" with the model in that "venerable" Old Gold ad. Interesting how a double entrendre can survive the ages. A cigar is just a cigar, right?
One thought on this "golden age" discussion. Like the traditional wedding anniversary gifts, I think we should view the eras of reel manufacturing along those lines. I, for one, have been collecting heavily in the "Tin Rra" and "Molybdenum Era" of skeleton fly reels, but have been known to trade for reels from the "Marine Plywood Era" and even the "Lego Era" of reels.

[Steve]

It's not the clock on the years, it's the change of the era, the paradigm shift in society itself. 90% of the little shops closed with the war, and the ones that survived changed from manufacturing their own products to selling those made by others. So if your definition is the small shop work and the apprentice system, then 1914 is the cutoff of your Golden Age.

Ron, I only wanted to point out that most of our favorite little reelmaking shops were defunct a good decade or more before the war. Your suggested cutoff and my personal one were only four years apart. And of course each of us envisions his or her own Golden Age. For that matter, non-collecting anglers certainly have a different viewpoint from us obsessive hoarders. For some, the Golden Age began when Penn was founded; for others, it began with Henshall's shortened bass rod; for still others, it ended with the demise of the pickup finger on spinning reels; and for yet more others, it ended when Bakelite replaced hard rubber. Different strokes...

[Brian F.]

I like this discussion a lot... and that it seems no one is going to quit the club because we don't agree on which era is THE era or because we collect reels from different eras. Steve, some will surely be disappointed that you forgot the Carl Newell era of graphite.

[Teal]

Hey Richard,

Got to love those old airbrush ads--Elvgren, Petty, Macpherson, Vargas, and many others. Some of them had fishing themes like the Old Gold ads of both Petty and Vargas. Oh, yes, don't worry about the How Much Did That Reel Cost article, its mainly numbers--far more indecipherable than Latin. You'll need a slide rule to make it through to the end...oh by the way, Richard, got my NFLCC gazette today and I might note in a non-offensive manner that THANK GOD WE HAVE YOU TO EDIT THE ORCA REEL NEWS. Hurt my brain just looking at it.

I agree with Steve, around 1900 is the best cut off date for the end of the small smiths and the rise of the great factory reel era.

Liked the FinNorwegian quip, although I am utterly lost in the Finno-Ugrian language family, considering there is only Finnish and Hungarian in it.

Enough meanderings of the mind. I have grading to do.

Cheers,

Dr. Todd

[Ron Mc]

I'm right with you, Steve. That's the beauty of this discussion - how each person defines the Golden Age is the exact point. I think the parallel thread on Clark's board is going about the same. The Golden, Silver, etc. Ages of firearms was given as an example.

[Reel Geezer]

Interesting comment Ron. I was into guns and went to many gun show yearly for over 20 years and never heard a collector or historian refer to guns in those age groups.

I might suggest (and you'll read more in an upcoming issue of the Reel News) that we are now living one of the great "ages" of fishing reels. Quality, workmanship, and innovation (anyone else out there fishing with a computerized reel?) are as good as, or better than anything in the past. They even use precision ball bearings. You might consider that a new age is upon us.