Vintage J. C. Higgins 500 Spinning Reel

[foakes]

Good observations, Greg --

When I was a kid, I would spend hours and many afternoons in the summer sorting and reorganizing my tackle box -- while studying in depth the Sears Roebuck catalog sporting goods section -- plopped in front of an old downdraft swamp cooler -- with a bottle of RC coke -- when it was 100+ degrees here in the San Joaquin Valley.

We never could afford the nice things in the catalog -- but that was just the way it was back in those days with a family of 7 -- if I wanted something special -- working and saving was the only way to get it.

To my knowledge, JC Higgins  (Sears) never manufactured their own fishing reels (or anything else for that matter) -- just rebadged middle of the road quality products from manufacturers they arranged agreements with.  They sourced many of the good quality reels of the day -- many were from major US manufacturers, and many were from overseas -- such as Italy, France.  Plus they sold brands without the JCH or Ted Williams name.

Another great catalog to read is the old Herters Company from the 60's and 70's.  They also re-labeled many types of products such as fishing reels -- then sold them a little cheaper than the original manufacturer.

Quick, and others provided them with product.  I have a few old Quick reels labeled Herters.

Best,

Fred