Hey, Steve V & Milt L - Matt L has pics of my mystery Re

[Len Sawisch]

Check out the 1903 Pritzlaff cataloge, copy of page 11, upper right hand corner. I swear that is my mystery "Star" reel - correct foot, pillars with shoulders, same handle, same raised hard rubber face with nickel plated bands. Stuck in there with all those Pflueger trade reels.

What do you think?

http://www.antiquefishinglures.net/catalogs.htm

[Steve]

Take a vote:

[john elder]

feet are different...does that kill the deal?

[Brian F.]

I got one too, oops make that three or four, five? Ooops again, each one has something ever so slightly different. Do you think someone at Montague (or maybe Pflueger?) knew they would be driving reel collectors crazy in the future? Or was it some deliberate action by Montague to say the reel they made for company "A" is "different" for the ones they made for company "B" because they changed a knob shape?

Why do Pflueger reels look so much like Montague reels?

Seriously, Len's reel looks like either a 1904 Montague steel pivot # 5007 to 5012, Pflueger National, Pfluegers Tarpon Reel (see catalog F-25), Pflueger's Fine Quality Rubber Metal Bound Multiplying Reel (same catalog - now that's a dead ringer).

[Steve]

Len's reel is shown in more detail here: http://orcaonline.org/images/pixel.gif? ... /Mo/Sa.htm

I badgered him for pictures a couple of years ago, because the grasp and foot looked similar to those used on some Star Reel Works reels.

Brian is right to suspect collusion among reelmakers. It looks as if half the makers in NY and Conn. outsourced the parts-making each year to the other half, while they assembled the reels themselves. The next year, they would all switch roles. Pflueger just copied whatever was on the market.

As proof, check out the Vom Hofe Pennells on the Pritzlaff pg. 12.

[SWIM JIG]

len those two reels I sent you have adifferent foot or feet or something, Do you need my tri focals? ha ha , yes the bodies are about the same and look like part pfluger or enterprise, most all those companies used basic items then added their own embelisments and names with the suppliers permision. Now what are those reels i sent you? are the like the one you have? is the demensions the same? are the bearing caps the same and thread size? Somewhere around (THE RAT HOLE) I have some bigger ones with the same design, in a few months I will dig them out! Did you notice that one of mine the plates are a greener tint, the other is black? and the gears will interchange, also the #s are scribed in and also stamped in, what is the explination for that other than a assembly line type of work? or are thay assembled by the (Jewlery trade schools students? Now the hunt is on! I and most likly the rest of these folks appoint you to do the research and a 4 page min. artical ! You got yourself a job! Col. M. Lorens aka SWIM JIG

[Len Sawisch]

Combining what I have picked up already and the conversation here, I guess:
* My reel is probably a Monti, and maybe a Pflueger (like Brian's, front row, 2nd from left) but not a Star (which shoots the retail value in my book':bash:').
* The rounded foot in the artist's drawing is the only major difference from my reel, and mine is stamped "Quadruple" (a name used by Monti, Pflueger, and countless others!).':roll:'
* The same banded face plate shows up in Montis and Pluegers over many years, but the shoulders on the pillars and the fake foot pillars through the foot (it is just a one-piece foot/pillars) suggest pre-1905.':doh:'
* Milt sent me five similar reels - two are very close but neither has the fake foot pillars - the other three are definitely Montis.':bricks:'
* The stamped numbers inside reels suggest at least two theories:
1. Hand-made reels needed parts to be numbered so at the company party when someone's enebreated spouse feel into the work bench, production wasn't shut down for two or three weeks.':oops:'
2. Not all parts were interchangable on "the line" so parts that went to specific models were stamped or etched for ease of assembly.''

So while not a four page article, it is a four bullet posting! Thanks for the insights, Y'all!

[SWIM JIG]

ok len explain the jewled end caps and the sise of the jewls? also whythe handles have that design? on 2 different made reels? The 1903 cat. has similar however not the same reels except the end plates! How many licks to the center of a tootsie pop? the world may never know! same as these reels. My thoughts are (1 a company made the end plates, for all these reels, 2 the stamped foot vs. the cast foot , stamped foot cost less to make, handles as different types , whom or what company offered the best handle at the least cost. However the gears on mine are all the same pattern and teeth cuts! as for hand fitting, and stamped #s and Letters with a combination of scribed in #s and letters still makes me think along the lines of (Jewlery school students before they went onto watch making, now the question is, where were they assembled? Cont, new york, mass. , penn. ky, indiana, ILLs. or ? There will be a answere someday, And as ORCAns its our duty to solve this problem! It would also be nice if we could trace the hard rubber plates mfg. AKRON AREA? nuf on this for now, these cutties intrige me so i will keep adding to the pile I have. Col. Milton Lorens aka SWIM JIG

[SWIM JIG]

Lenny what are you doing? you sent me 3 emails and my server Bright.net says YOU HAVE A Virus! I printed out and mailed you a copy, what have I done you want me to catch a virus? Your Ohio Conection Col. M. Loens aka SWIM JIG ps I cant even send you a email says you arenot a client or subscriber!

[Len Sawisch]

Col. Milt (and interested others)

Your reels are in the mail. I have solved all the mysteries I care to handle at this point - I have a backlog of Marhoffs to ponder over.

As for the email issue, anything coming from is not me as that account went defunct last December. It is not unusual for a virus program to grab an old email address and "pretend" it is sending messages from that address.

So as the old song goes "No, No, No, it ain't me, Babe!"