Garcia Mitchell 314

[Scottsfishn]

While looking through a box of reels, I found a Mitchell 314. I've looked on this website and there's no information about those. Is this like an oddball thing or were they pretty common. What would be the value of this I'm left-handed so it's nothing I will be saving, thanks in advance for any information

[jtwill98]

They are commonly sold on auction sites.

From 1958-1972, there were 465,132 of these reels manufactured. The main difference between the 314 and the 304 is the push-button release spool as opposed to the threaded knob of the 304 reel.

With regard to price, they are selling (on the auction sites) between $10-$35 dollars depending condition and buyer awareness.

   

[happyhooker]

They are not rare.  Look at info for 304, which is very similar to the 314.  I think the 314 may have a bit faster retrieve.  Nice reel to have.

Frank

[Midway Tommy]

They also came with a flip over crank handle and Planamatic gearing. It has also been said they actually came out in 1957.   

[OhReely]

I reconditioned a 314 for my nephew last year. It had a serial number on the foot and the research I did had it manufactured in 1958. There are large and small spools available, the difference in them being the diameter of the center to limit line capacity. Brand new spools have plastic cases with screw-on caps. New parts were relatively inexpensive on ebay. I clocked the gears at 3.5:1

[sandbar]

While looking through a box of reels, I found a Mitchell 314. I've looked on this website and there's no information about those. Is this like an oddball thing or were they pretty common. What would be the value of this I'm left-handed so it's nothing I will be saving, thanks in advance for any information

Here is some info.

[jtwill98]

From 1958-1972, there were 465,132 of these reels manufactured

The information that I provided is specific to the Mitchell 314 and came from B.R Frewing's research listed in the booklet "Mitchell: Birth of a Legend - A Collectors Guide" and can also be seen at the Mitchell Reel Museum which is still up and running. 

[Midway Tommy]

The reality is there are a lot of varying opinions and books out there regarding CAP & Mitchell history, most of which are fairly accurate, but still just guesstimates since precise records are so difficult to uncover. It seems like just about everytime a researcher comes to a definite conclusion someone finds an example that upsets the applecart. 

[jtwill98]

The reality is there are a lot of varying opinions and books out there regarding CAP & Mitchell history, most of which are fairly accurate, but still just guesstimates since precise records are so difficult to uncover. It seems like just about everytime a researcher comes to a definite conclusion someone finds an example that upsets the applecart.

I agree with your points above. However, I am not an expert and I must try to trust the information that I obtained from those who did some research that seems to follow a logical historical trail.   

As such, knowing how patent law works, I disagree with many experts that Mitchell would have release the egg-shape (to become known as the Mitchell) prior to their patent filings in 1948.

Some experts have stated the reel was release prior to WW2, others soon after the war. I've seen a report that one person claims a soldier brought one to the US right after WW2 ended. I tend to not believe this story.

All research that I have seen points to the person (Jacquemin) who designed the reel and was brought on by the company after the conclusion of the war and was working on its design in 1946 of his employment. I believe this information came from the written notes of the Pugeot interview. It was written in French and I will need to hunt it down, if someone is interested.

Soon after the war upon Jacquemin's employment, there may have been some prototypes, but I believe these would have been held closely by the company and not released until after the French patent FR9699583 was filed July 28, 1948 and the UK patent GB645978 on Aug. 3 1948.

To do otherwise, would have voided the patent filing (if someone provided evidence) leaving other manufacturers to produce similar reels. If the company believed they had something special that they wanted to protect, I think it was too risky and didn't occur.

Thus, it is my belief that the first egg-shaped (Mitchell/Mitchell 300) reel was released to the public soon after filing the second of these patents. 

This does not mean that prototypes were not produced prior to release, just that I find it extremely difficult to believe the company didn't keep close tabs on them.  I also believe if they exist, they were created from Jacquemin's design documents of 1946.

[OhReely]

jtwill98 you are correct, 1958. Thanks for pointing that out. In checking my notes on that reel it had a 7 digit s/n beginning with 212 and I actually used the same source you quoted and recorded 1958. Memory failed me though when I needed it most. I edited the post.

[Midway Tommy]

While it really has nothing to with the original post in this thread and is kind of highjacking it, I'm from the corner that believes multiple test examples were sent out to local retailers in the late '30s with positive reactions coming back but the war ended up putting a huge damper on production and the delayed patent application until things settled down later at the end of the war. Things were pretty devastated over there back in those days. Some consider the early test examples as prototypes but I don't. If multiple examples are manufactured or produced for testing, at least in my thought process, they are no longer prototypes. The prototype is the original one they were copied off of.