Reel in 1897 Casting Tournament Program

[RonG]

I was looking through the early casting tournament programs that Matt Wickham recently posted in the library. I saw the picture of the reel below and it reminded me of when I first saw the ad in Cliff Netheron's book on early casting tournaments. I always wondered what happened to the reel and if anyone ever saw one. If anyone knows of one, please post.

The picture below is from the 1897 Casting tournament program.

[Eric J]

I’ve always wondered about that reel too Ron ever since seeing it in Netherton’s book. It is so strikingly similar to a Marhoff that Walter Marhoff must have been influenced by it. I’ve never found any other ads for it.

[Mike N]

That’s a very neat casting reel, Ron. I’ve not seen one either in what is now 40 years of perusing auction catalogs, tackle shows, flea markets etc. Definitely a unicorn. Such a quality reel, if it was actually made, was unlikely to have been discarded and hopefully is still out there somewhere.

[Jim Schottenham]

Despite the ad appearing to show what could be a hard rubber plate with a nickel silver head plate insert, I have only seen one example, an all nickel plated reel from American Nickle Steel Co. that was sold through Lang's Auction. The raised gear box is likely to facilitate a pull-out handle to place the reel in free-spool mode.

[RonG]

The reel master nailed it. I remember seeing that reel on Lang's, but didn't tie it to the photo above. Now, that Jim has pointed it out, I can look on "Tackle Find" and see it there.

[Steve]

I theorized in my book that the reel was invented by Thomas Mason, a jeweler in Jacksonville, Ill. He didn't apply for a patent for his reel until 1909, 12 years after the ad was published, but there are various reasons why such a delay might have occurred. Seeing the raised housing on the reel in Jim's photos reminded me that Mason's patent drawings show a similar gear housing on a reel that looks a bit like a Montague product.

[kyreels]

Great detective work fellows. One has to wonder if the hard rubber version is out there somewhere, but likely not. It would be nice to find other versions.