The First Drags and Pflueger

[basto]

The standards here remind me of the Mauser rifles made in Oberndorf around 1900....or a vintage Rolls Royce.

[coastal_dan]

Superb Mike, what an amazing looking reel.  The dual drag concept is very cool especially giving the operator the ability to use it at exactly the time of their choosing.

I also was eyeing up some Oceanics with the Williams drag systems as you pictured before.  I have an old Oceanic rod in excellent condition it could pair with.

Thanks for the input and sharing this beauty with us.  Add Atlapac 9/O to watch list...check.

[Penn Chronology]

I also was eyeing up some Oceanics with the Williams drag systems as you pictured before.  I have an old Oceanic rod in excellent condition it could pair with

If the Oceanic rod is a split cane, the match of reel and rod makes a good talking piece. The Oceanic's were offered in a range of sizes and were simple reels. They are relatively easy to find and can be restored to a jewel like appearance because of the non-plated German Silver that can be polished. Can make a real pretty presentation.



Since they were not offered with any of the drags or anti-reverse devices out of the factory, you would have to present the reel as a custom build buying the aftermarket parts for it directly from the same Pflueger catalog that the reel is advertised in.



They are a fairly easy model to find on EBay and were made for many years, so if the rod your have is fiberglass, I believe the model carried into the fiberglass rod era.



I kind of like the early ones better, but, that is me.

[Penn Chronology]

The standards here remind me of the Mauser rifles made in Oberndorf around 1900....or a vintage Rolls Royce

No doubt, the Pflueger Atlapac was a fine reel. In 1928 it was introduced with a lower priced sister model named the Adams:



The Adams was not made to the standards of the Atlapac but shared many of its parts and its basic design,

There was no left side drag on a Adams, instead Pflueger placed a large thumb stall for thumb cooking prevention,

Both the Adams and the Atlapac were 6/0 reels in 1928, many of the parts were interchangeable. The internals and spool were interchangeable, the Adams did have the big brake drum clicker gear even though there was no brake assembly in the tail plate.

Both reels used a double dog bridge;

      The interesting thing is when we move to today's world and see these two reels in the collector market, there is a roll reversal. In 1928, big game fishing was a sport of the rich and famous. The Adams, was a lower priced reel than the Atlapac. As you can see by the ad, the Atlapac 6/0 was priced at $75, it is 1928, $75 is big bucks but wealthy people do not buy low priced reels, it is not good for their image.
       Consequently, the Adams did not sell too well, making it a relatively rare reel in todays market. A good condition Atlapac 6/0 may go as high as $500 today but a nice Adams will sell at the $1000 level. Funny how some things work out.

[Tightlines667]

Good stuff!  I am soaking it in like a sponge.  Keep it coming Mike.

[Penn Chronology]

Good stuff!  I am soaking it in like a sponge.  Keep it coming Mike.

Glad you are enjoying it. There is so much more. We have not even touched on the old classics yet, like Joe Coxe, the vom Hofe group or even Kovalovsky's. Or makers like Meisselbach and Perez. Plenty of time and endless reels.

Or we could talk about old time personalities like Zane Grey or Hemingway.

One day at a time.........................

[coastal_dan]

Seriously good stuff, the sponge analogy is spot on. 

Funny how we've heard similar stories about the reel the doesn't sell too well and not being as much of a 'success' but it ends up being worth considerably more.

I wonder how the "No-Time-Limit-Guarantee" worked out for them? Interesting wording compared to lifetime guarantee or similar.

I have a couple Joe Coxe reels but don't know much about them, when you are ready we will listen...this place is like the Field of Dreams..."If you post it, we will read".

[Penn Chronology]

I have a couple Joe Coxe reels but don't know much about them, when you are ready we will listen...this place is like the Field of Dreams..."If you post it, we will read".

Dan,

When you get time, please post the Joe Coxe pictures. The life and designs of Joe Coxe are part of the reason we fish with the tackle we fish with.

[coastal_dan]

Mine are the Bronson Era J.A. Coxe reels, so not worth much but interesting to me nonetheless.  I find Joe Coxes' life fascinating, looks like there is a great book on Amazon that delves into his life...the preview is in the link below...

https://books.google.com/books?id=PRL8Sb7zDlIC&pg=PA9&lpg=PA9&dq=joe+coxe&source=bl&ots=Ixbpbr1da6&sig=xKgucfOs_zdlIBJVMEkG7KX5-p0&hl=en&sa=X&ei=4usbVZvaDNK1ogTI7oAY&ved=0CEQQ6AEwCQ#v=onepage&q=joe%20coxe&f=false

[Penn Chronology]

Mine are the Bronson Era J.A. Coxe reels, so not worth much but interesting to me nonetheless.  I find Joe Coxes' life fascinating, looks like there is a great book on Amazon that delves into his life...the preview is in the link below...

That book exists because of Bronson, it is an excellent biography of Joe Coxe and his story. When Joe Coxe went over to Bronson, he was under the impression his reels would be continued as he designed them. That was how it went in the beginning. The early ""Coxe / Bronson"" reels, as I call them, were basically high quality Coxe reels;




In a short time, Bronson turned the "Coxe / Bronson" reels into the "Bronson / Coxe" reels:





The "Bronson / Coxe" reel was an inferior product, but, if you want to add a "Coxe / Bronson"  to your collection, it is a high quality piece and does not command the prices of an original Los Angeles, Ca. made Joe Coxe reel, known as an "LA Coxe". The "Coxe / Bronson" reels are exactly like the "LA Coxe" reels.

The Joe Coxe brand was never the same after Bronson got done with it.

[coastal_dan]

Ends up two I thought were J.A. Coxe Reels were only Bronsons.  But I do have this one (very similar to the one you pictured above).  Seems like a solid little reel...

[Reel 224]

My mothers maiden name was Pfluger not spelled the same, but it could have been changed when they came here from Germany, I really don't know as I never met my Grandfather on my mothers side just my grandmother and she died when I was 5years old. I own an old Pflueger Capitol reel that is in pretty good shape that I still fish with.

[Penn Chronology]

My mothers maiden name was Pfluger not spelled the same, but it could have been changed when they came here from Germany, I really don't know as I never met my Grandfather on my mothers side just my grandmother and she died when I was 5years old. I own an old Pflueger Capitol reel that is in pretty good shape that I still fish with.

That's interesting. One of the descendants of the Pflueger brothers of Enterprise Mfg., is a member of ORCA. If you were interested in starting a genealogy study of your family, with the purpose being whether you are related to the Pflueger fishing reel family or not, the ORCA forum would be the perfect place to start a quest.

[Dominick]

Joe, the Plueger family have been looking for years for the long last heirs to the Plueger fortune.    The search expired in 2015.  Close but no cigar.  Dominick

[Penn Chronology]

Ends up two I thought were J.A. Coxe Reels were only Bronsons.  But I do have this one (very similar to the one you pictured above).  Seems like a solid little reel...

                Here's is where I should have used another word, other than "inferior". When I say the Bronson / Coxe reels made by Bronson (like yours), are inferior, what I really mean is that they are inferior when compared to a true Joesph A. Coxe made reel. They were a good reel, not great, but a good enough reel in their lower price range category. What upset Joe Coxe and any loyal Joe Coxe customer was that Bronson blatantly used the Joe Coxe name on products that were no where near what someone buying a Joe Coxe reel would expect.
                Sort of like how people feel when they buy a low end Chinese made reel with an high quality American name on it. Bronson was like any other big company, they wanted the rights to what they felt the public perceived as excellence, so they could cash on it. The first step for Bronson in that process was the Joe Coxe book authored by Ralph Bandini and financed by Bronson, that you mentioned, available on Amazon as we speak. It is business as usual in our world of Democratic / Capitalism, but when the tactic is so blatantly accomplished as it was with the ""JALOXE"" (as it is so often called on EBay), the transparency of it all is recognized by many. Even though that was the case and Joe Coxe left Bronson when he saw his product changed forever, his name lived on attached to Bronson, which sort of waters down his iconic legacy, IMHO...