The Transatlantic Connection
West to East
A lot has been written elsewhere about the trade in angling goods between the UK and the Americas. In the past such worthies as Young's and Hardy's have supplied reels subsequently branded for American manufacturers or retailers, but what about goods moving in the other direction? What about American made fishing tackle being imported into the UK and sold by British brands? It's fairly well known that American made cane rods were being imported into the UK in quantity by the last quarter of the nineteenth century, but what about American made reels?
I was prompted to write this by the discovery of an intriguing and pretty little brass reel that came my way. The reel has many of the characteristics of an American made skeleton reel, though with an odd configuration and a clear trademark for a UK tackle maker.
I was prompted to write this by the discovery of an intriguing and pretty little brass reel that came my way. The reel has many of the characteristics of an American made skeleton reel, though with an odd configuration and a clear trademark for a UK tackle maker.
The "Mystery" Reel
This is the little reel that started it all. A pretty, very lightly made 2 1/4" brass reel with a bronzed finish and a very unusual frame design. The reel has some resemblance to skeleton reels, lightly made and framed fly reels made popular in the USA from the latter part of the nineteenth century. These reels however, have a much more conventional construction, consisting of a cage and drum, usually with raised pillar supports. Where this reel differs is in the virtual absence of a frame, with just a "quadrant" on the back of the reel, supporting a substantial wire line guard. It is on this line guard that the real puzzle can be seen, the unmistakable trademark of Milward. Henry Milward and Sons was just one of a group of companies based in the town of Redditch, just south of Birmingham, that formed the mainstay of British fishing tackle manufacture. Redditch had been a centre for the manufacture of sewing needles and it was the logical extension into the making of fishing hooks that led to the town becoming the fishing tackle capital of Britain. So, is this reel a British product, or was it imported from America?
A.J. Campbell, in his book "Classic and Antique Fishing Tackle" is ambiguous, "A unique Milward fly reel with a lot of panache from Gus Meisselbach." Does he believe this reel was made by Meisselbach, or that the reel was heavily influenced by Meisselbach's work? True, there is a very strong resemblance to the Meisselbach Amateur reel but I believe, on closer examination, that the reel is in fact British made. ( I am indebted to Eddie Southgate, a fellow member of the The Classic Fly Rod Forum for alerting me to this reference.)
A.J. Campbell, in his book "Classic and Antique Fishing Tackle" is ambiguous, "A unique Milward fly reel with a lot of panache from Gus Meisselbach." Does he believe this reel was made by Meisselbach, or that the reel was heavily influenced by Meisselbach's work? True, there is a very strong resemblance to the Meisselbach Amateur reel but I believe, on closer examination, that the reel is in fact British made. ( I am indebted to Eddie Southgate, a fellow member of the The Classic Fly Rod Forum for alerting me to this reference.)
This is a page from Meiseelbach's 1914 Catalogue, showing the two variations of the Amateur available, horizontal and vertical mounting. Both are described as being sold "with drag", and if you examine the right hand plate, of the vertical mounted reel, you will see a lever mounted brake that applies tension to the reel unless lifted by the angler's finger. This makes perfect sense as it stops the reel "running away", after all it is designed to be free-running.
Now let's take a closer look at the Milward reel. Look particularly at the underside of the reel foot. A piece of spring brass in the same position as the brake on the Meisselbach reel, but much smaller and lacking the "T-bar" that engages the spool rim to effect the drag. In short, it appears to be meaningless..... Is this evidence of a misunderstanding of the features of the Meisselbach reel? Let us now turn our attention to the other main difference between the reels, the "line guard". This is a substantial affair, mounted on a brass quadrant screwed into the reel back. Incidentally, you can see here that the quadrant has only one position, for right-hand wind, ending Campbell's speculation that it was adjustable for either hand. The guard itself is a good idea, and would clearly prevent any line tangling on the reel handle, but there is just enough "play" in the wire mount to also allow it to be pressed against the rim of the spool, acting as a brake. Brake AND line guard combined...
Another point to note is that this reel appears possibly to have been bronzed, - Meisselbach products of this period were nickel plated....
Perhaps at some future date I will be able to secure an original Meisselbach Amateur for the Museum and make a closer comparison.
This next reel though, has a much stronger case for being made in the USA but retailed in the UK.
Another point to note is that this reel appears possibly to have been bronzed, - Meisselbach products of this period were nickel plated....
Perhaps at some future date I will be able to secure an original Meisselbach Amateur for the Museum and make a closer comparison.
This next reel though, has a much stronger case for being made in the USA but retailed in the UK.
Allcock Skeleton Reel
Skeleton reels are well-known in the USA but fared less well on this side of the Atlantic, so I was puzzled to see this page in the 1938-39 Allcock catalogue.
There it is in black and white, - "American Fly Reel", note not "American-style", suggesting that these are real, genuine American made reels, so who was making them and exporting to Allcock's?
Here's an example of the reel, purchased in the UK but unmarked. It has the same, "Y" shaped cutouts on the spool, it is made of steel rather than brass and the handle is indeed a very dark green, as described in the catalogue. The reel sat in the cabinet for some time as something of a curiosity, until Richard Lodge's excellent book on skeleton reels revealed it to be a Bronson Flylite. Now is there a connection between Bronson and Allcock's? Well, as a matter of fact, there is. The Flylite was retailed in Canada as the "Litewaite" - there's a catalogue page in Lodge's book. The retailer was Allcock, Laight and Westwood. In 1854 Samuel Allcock, son of the company's founder, the splendidly named Polycarp Allcock, launched a tackle retail business in Toronto, Canada, in partnership with another Redditch man, Charles Laight. The third member of the partnership joined in 1898, having been employed as store manager, and the Allcock, Laight and Westwood Co. Ltd. was formed.
Samuel Allcock took on the ownership of the his father's enterprise in 1848 and the the company became S. Allcock and Co. clearly Samuel's personal experience of the North American tackle trade was to inform his choices for the UK offering of the company leading to the inclusion of the Flylite in the company's catalogues.
Samuel Allcock took on the ownership of the his father's enterprise in 1848 and the the company became S. Allcock and Co. clearly Samuel's personal experience of the North American tackle trade was to inform his choices for the UK offering of the company leading to the inclusion of the Flylite in the company's catalogues.
Going "Dutch"
The next item in this ongoing exploration of Transatlantic Connections begins not in the UK but in Holland. This particular connection came to light as I was writing up the material for "Skeleton Reels" in the American Reels section. Yes it is a skeleton reel and very much in the American tradition, but, like the Milward's reel above, where was it actually made?
Though unmarked Richard Lodge in his book "Skeletons, a Collectors Guide to Raised Pillar Fly Reels" identifies a near identical reel as being by the Dutch company S. Weinberg. The company had premises in Amsterdam and described themselves as "manufacturers and importers of fishing goods". It seem as if the firm survived until the 1970's, but the Amsterdam premises has now been redeveloped as flats.
Clearly Weinbergs were importing Hendryx reels into Europe in the '20's, which is enough in itself to be a "Transatlantic Connection", but what about the skeleton reel that started this enquiry?
At first glance it looks very much like a typical American skeleton reel. It has a raised pillar frame, a ventilated spool with a caged drum, he handle is counterbalanced and there's an optional check. If we now look at the reel a little more critically, it appears to be made of German Silver rather than plated brass or steel. The optional check is sited to the side of the reel rather than top or bottom, (ok, the Union Hardware Sunnybrook has this feature), but the rivets holding the check spring are hollow and the reel foot is a very simple pressing, very similar to that of a Hendryx Competitor. Finally, stamped into the foot of the reel is the word "FOREIGN". This first entered into use as a requirement of the 1890 "McKinley Tariff Act and was introduced as a requirement of goods imported into the United States. Is it reasonable then to conclude from this, and the differences in manufacturing styles, that this reel was actually made by Weinberg's in their workshops in Holland, based on an American prototype and subsequently exported either to the USA or the UK?
This has been only the most cursory excursion into an area that may well prove to be of some interest, and I am sure there will be other examples of North American influence on products being offered in the UK market. As and when these come to my attention, I hope to be able to extend this article.
This has been only the most cursory excursion into an area that may well prove to be of some interest, and I am sure there will be other examples of North American influence on products being offered in the UK market. As and when these come to my attention, I hope to be able to extend this article.