|
Vintage Fishing Reels
Moving away from fishing rods and reels as a whole and concentrating on fishing
reels, we can summarize their history very briefly in this way.
From the earliest
12th
century
chinese
fishing
reel
reproduction
in
a
drawing, to the wooden spools of the 17th century in Europe, the actual
beginning of the fishing reel was when the object transformed from simple
storage device
to a casting device probably in the UK in the early 1800s. From then on,
American jewelers and craftmen such as George Snyman - who became
probably the most famous reel maker of his age - Meek, Milam, Sage, Hardman and Gayle improved
the device. It is during this period and probably in the UK firstly that
the multiplying
reel was invented: a reel that rewinds more line by each simple turn
of the handle.
The next jump in reel technology was probably achieved in the 1860s
in the UK and USA by people like Edward von Hofen, Hardy, Slater and Heaton and
later, in the 1950s by French Léon Carpano and Charles Pons who
founded the famous Brand . Mitchell.
Tip!
Personally, I learned that for collectors a major threshold is represented by
the second World War, the earliest 1800s reels being practically a world apart
for their rarity and prices.
Fishing reels and fishing equipment around or before the second War World (say
before the 50s) were sturdy, well made and expensive because very few people
could afford fishing with "modern" equipment. The market was still very small
and most the fishing reels were as expensive as say, a bicycle (e.g a good reel
in 1912 would cost you $10 to $60, and a workman monthly salary would be about
$100!)

..maybe wanna jump from vintage fishing reels back to fishing rods and reels?
|