Unusual reels with stories to them

[Brian F.]

Another post about some unusual reels got me thinking to ask this question: How many people record stories behind unusual, home made or rare reels that they come to acquire for their collection? We always hear people say: "If these reels could talk, what stories they could tell" Seems as though the story is not as far off and lost to history but just a matter of someone neglecting to bother to preserve it. I know there are those that could care less when they get something new but information like that makes a special reel seem even more desirable to me.

[m3040c]

Great question Brian and great food for thought and creation.

It just inspired me to make a New Years resolution to finish my next little job. I have a brand new, un-mounted Neptuna reel cradle and I also have one of those crazy powder coated Penn Jigmasters that were floating around EBay a short time ago. The Neptuna handle is gold and all the chrome on the Jigmaster is gold, when I find the right rod I am going to build it up. I was thinking of mounting the cradle to a old split bamboo boat rod but I am not sure if that could be historically correct. What do you think?

As far as history of unusal stuff goes, I am always looking for Penn and Ocean City trade reels and custom reels from classic makers but if the quality is high I usually can not afford them

I think an interesting project would be to build up a reel with parts from different manufacturers. Parts that fit, of course. We were just talking about this in a recent post. About how similar parts are between the many manufacturers. Maybe a contest could be made to build up the strangest working reel with parts from as many unlikely places as possible. I wonder how many different models could be used to build up one reel.

[m3040c]

Brian, this has nothing to do with this post. When I try to send replys to private messages they go to my OUTBOX rather than being sent. Am I doing something wrong?

[m3040c]

I was going to do a new post for these two unusual or maybe not so unusual reels but I figured it fit within this topic, so here goes:::

I believe these reel were made in Utica, New York and by the look of the handles and material of the side plates, I would venture a guess that they were made in the 1930's. They are different but very much the same. The quality is low and they must have been cheap reels when they were new. I did not add any parts to either reel. They are exactly as I got them.

First lets take a look at the Pair:::

These two reels are both Bakelite. The reel on the left is chrome plated brass and the reel on the right is nickle plated brass



Now here's a few pictures of the reel on the left. This reel is called a H1 and is so marked on the bottom of the stand. It is a 250 yard reel (which is also marked on the bottom of the stand) with no markings on the side plates. The handle side plate has a square spot for a marking or logo but it is blank.







Now we will move to the reel on the right. This one is a mix of brands. The parts are very similar to the other reel. They both have the same cheapo feel when you operate them. The first reel I figured was worn, it has a cracked collar where the handle drive shaft passes through the side plate and has much brassing, so I figured the feel was bad because of its age. This reel feels just as crummy and it is next to new. What I find interesting about this reel is the mix of brand names.













OK, this is the first in a new series of different type reels. Because I own these two reels, all information that anyone is willing to add is very welcome by me.

Happy New Year to all

(edited by moderator: Mike, for some reason the uploader doesn't like long names or names with spaces in them so I simplified them and reloaded your photos)

[m3040c]

For some reason, unknown to me, the second set of pictures will not post. They are in the repository but I can not get them to come out in the post.
There must be a wizard out there that can help.

[Steve]

Mike, the "H1" is actually "HI"--for Horrocks-Ibbotson, Utica. They seemed to compete with Bronson in making a gazillion different models with a gazillion different names.

[m3040c]

Thanks for that piece of info Steve. I am thinking of selling these two reels and the more info I have about them the better. If someone here is interested just drop me an email, no reasonable offer wil be refused.

[m3040c]

Thank you Mr. Moderator for making my pictures viewable.