Herter's Reels

Started by wfjord, September 28, 2017, 03:12:05 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

wfjord

Does anyone know who, or what companies, manufactured Herter's spinning reels?

I recently saw a Herter's 1240 spinning reel in a local consignment shop; it was a decent looking burgundy colored reel that looked very similar to a Shakespeare 2052 and seemed to be pretty solid.  I also saw a different Herter's reel online that looked very much like a D.A.M. Quick.

I'm not particularly interested in buying one, just curious about them.

happyhooker

I know they sourced a lot of stuff out of Japan.  I bet Tommy would know a lot more.

Frank

Midway Tommy

Herter's outsourced all of their spinning reels. I've never heard of a Herter's 1240 but various Herter's reel models were made by Zangi of Italy, Dam Quick of Germany, J.W. Young of England and some by Japanese reel manufacturers. 
Love those open face spinning reels! (Especially ABU & ABU/Zebco Cardinals)

Tommy D (ORCA), NE



Favorite Activity? ............... In our boat fishing
RELAXING w/ MY BEST FRIEND (My wife Bonnie)

happyhooker

Back in the bad old days (before online retailing), Herter's was one of the bigger mail order outfits for sporting goods.  Headquartered in Waseca, Minn., they had shops later in other Minn. towns, as well as SD, Iowa & I believe Wash. state.  I do not ever remember seeing a Herter's catalog (back then, my favorites were Netcraft [now Jann's] and Sears to a lesser extent), but I've heard tell it was a big deal for a lot of folks.  See the catalogs up for sale on the big auction site often.  I believe the company went bankrupt in the late '70s or early '80s & Geo. Herter died a few years after that (still has a cult following for some of the books he wrote). Supposedly, the company got overextended & hurt by rules that cut into the shipping of ammo & guns by mail.  I understand Cabelas got the Herter's name & still sells some stuff using it.

Here's a little packing envelope I have from Herter's; I think it had some spinner parts or sinkers or something in it once.  Despite what it says, I really wonder if Herter's did much manufacturing; the history of the company was always in retailing stuff & not making it.

Frank

wfjord

It might be interesting to find an old Herter's catalog and see how many familiar looking reels they had made for them.

happyhooker

Those catalogs were reputedly a real interesting read.  If anyone has an old one, like wfjord said, it would surely be fun to see some of the reel pages.

Frank

foakes

#6
Still have a couple --

Interesting thing...these catalogs actually have more factual information than the original manufacturers ever offered.

So I think that the Editors and compilers of these catalogs had deep experience in sporting goods and equipment.

This is from 1971.

About an inch thick -- everything from fishing, hunting, clothing, camping, fly tying, rods, reels, firearms, snowmobiles, mini bikes, archery, and a ton more.

Never get tired of reading these.

Keep one next to the upstairs John.

Best,

Fred
The Official, Un-Authorized Service and Restoration Center for quality vintage spinning reels.

D-A-M Quick, Penn, Mitchell, and ABU/Zebco Cardinals

--------

The first rule of fishing is to fish where the fish are. The second rule of fishing is to never forget the first rule.

"Enjoy the little things in Life — For someday, you may look back — and realize that they were the big things"
                                                     Fred O.

wfjord

#7
Wow! That's impressive! Look at all those old Quicks and Mitchells. So they didn't just outsource copies under the Herter's name, they carried top of the line name brands.

Fred, somehow I'm not surprised (well, maybe a little bit) that you were able to actually produce a Herter's catalog. Looks like they carried everything for the outdoorsman --and I'd wager most of it is made of metal and organic materials.

I like the line at the bottom of the front cover -- "Old World Craftsmanship -- New World Production."  It's too bad that during our lifetime that standard, with maybe a few exceptions, has largely faded into history.

festus

So a Mitchell 300 was $1.10 more than a D.A.M. Quick 220.  Interesting.

happyhooker

Got ahold of one of Geo. Herter's books "Professional Fly Tying, Spinning and Tackle Making" and for anyone interested in fly tying, there are some interesting and seldom seen patterns in there.  Almost 600 pages.  All kinds of fly patterns.  He stated in the intro that no single individual's opinions dominate the manual, but, true salesman that he was, the Herter's business name is referenced more than a few times.

Frank

wfjord

I noticed that book is available on Amazon. Seems George Leonard Herter had his hand in a lot of things and produced numerous books. 

oc1

The Herters cork body duck decoys were the best thing going.  I don't know if they made them but nobody else had anything similar.
-steve

happyhooker

Quote from: wfjord on December 07, 2017, 04:57:11 AM
Seems George Leonard Herter had his hand in a lot of things and produced numerous books. 

Some of his books had little, if anything, to do with fishing. He was a bit of a Renaissance man.

Frank

festus

#13
Resurrecting an old thread here, does anyone know(Midway Tommy especially) if South Bend or the Gladding Corp. make any spinning  reels for Herter's?

This reel advertised on Ebay looks identical to an old SB my dad used during the early 1970s.  I gave it to my nephew several years ago and he was fishing it last time I asked.  If so, it's larger than a Mitchell 300 but smaller than a 306.

I remember having the big Herter's catalog and ordering some things from it but not reels.  

David Hall

Fred I had that very Catalog and I ordered a bunch of stuff, lure making parts, arrow making parts.  Herters was my go to.  what memories.