Old, Weird, Historical, and Unusual Spinning Reels --

[whalebreath]

Just spotted a Langley Spinator on the local Craigslist mixed in with a bunch of garbage grade 'tackle'.

[bhale1]

Tommy and Fred,
Your knowledge and love for these old spinners is simply amazing! What a great resource for everyone who likes to follow these posts... Thank you both!!  Very fun and informative!
Brett

[Midway Tommy]

Thanks! It's fun sharing old reel photos and history with others!

[foakes]

Here is an old Bronson Savage 910 -- mostly metal, small, but heavy at 7 oz.

Late 50's.

Best,

Fred

[happyhooker]

Thanks, Tommy, on the Zebco 1970 & other reels you have posted on.

Fred, too, thanks for your efforts.

Here's a little reel that is not particularly memorable, as far as I know, or technologically great either; in fact, it's kinda ordinary & sorta cheap looking.  But, check out that name.  "New Norman FR-53".  Where did that come from?  Sounds like the marketing budget was tight or non-existent.  Reel is Marked "Made in Japan."  Metal body, rotor and gears; plastic spool & knob and plastic body cover, held on by one screw on the non-handle side of the reel.  The anti-reverse is positively DAM Quickesque, with a little lever knob hear the handle that "clicks" up and down when it's on, just like my DAM Quick 220; it appears to act on the back side of the main gear.  The drag on the front of the spool has a metal cupped washer (for a spring?) and a 2d keyed metal washer that rides on the plastic of the spool; under the spool, there is a tiny red, fiber washer on top of the drag clicker gear, that presses against the back of the spool.  No true line guide, other than the bail is bent with a little valley that serves as a guide (I've seen this on other reels). Bail trip is external via a protuberance on the reel leg.  Not sure I'd want anything bigger than your average crappie or sunnie on the end of the line with this one.

But, that name?  Who was Norman(n)?  Was there an "Old" Normann?  Was there an FR-1, or FR-2 or FR-52?  Not your typical "outdoorsy" or "fish fightingest" name.  The name is a label on the body & maybe there were other, identical reels named "New Alfred" or "New Sylvester" or....--as easy as pasting on a different label. 

[foakes]

Clean old reel, HH --

Reminds me of a lot of reels -- Quick, Roddy, Shakes, Zebco, etc..

Appears to be mid 60's, as a guess.

In this era, Japan was copying the features of many reels -- and coming up with weird hybrids.

The names would be whatever they thought might sell in their target market.

You might see two or three nearly identical reels -- with different stick on labels.

Thanks for sharing!

Best,

Fred

[Midway Tommy]

Thanks, Tommy, on the Zebco 1970 & other reels you have posted on.

Fred, too, thanks for your efforts.

Here's a little reel that is not particularly memorable, as far as I know, or technologically great either; in fact, it's kinda ordinary & sorta cheap looking.  But, check out that name.  "New Norman FR-53".  Where did that come from?  Sounds like the marketing budget was tight or non-existent.  Reel is Marked "Made in Japan."  Metal body, rotor and gears; plastic spool & knob and plastic body cover, held on by one screw on the non-handle side of the reel.  The anti-reverse is positively DAM Quickesque, with a little lever knob hear the handle that "clicks" up and down when it's on, just like my DAM Quick 220; it appears to act on the back side of the main gear.  The drag on the front of the spool has a metal cupped washer (for a spring?) and a 2d keyed metal washer that rides on the plastic of the spool; under the spool, there is a tiny red, fiber washer on top of the drag clicker gear, that presses against the back of the spool.  No true line guide, other than the bail is bent with a little valley that serves as a guide (I've seen this on other reels). Bail trip is external via a protuberance on the reel leg.  Not sure I'd want anything bigger than your average crappie or sunnie on the end of the line with this one.

But, that name?  Who was Norman(n)?  Was there an "Old" Normann?  Was there an FR-1, or FR-2 or FR-52?  Not your typical "outdoorsy" or "fish fightingest" name.  The name is a label on the body & maybe there were other, identical reels named "New Alfred" or "New Sylvester" or....--as easy as pasting on a different label.  

They were made in the early '60s, possibly by Daiwa. Normann also had a light size external trip by Daiwa called Deluxe, a "25" (UL) and Valor FR-29 (UL). Like Fred said, there were a lot of reels coming out of Japan in the '60s and they would put any name the importer wanted on them. Some were decent quality and many weren't. A lot of those reels were duplicates, just with a different sticker or name. It's tough keeping track of all those different names & models.      

[foakes]

Introduced in 1953, the Waltco Ny-O-Lite fishing reel was a unique promotional item -- although it was also fully capable and functional.

Nylon was invented by DuPont in the mid 30's -- came into widespread use during WWII for military and gear applications.

After the war, Dupont wanted to introduce the possible uses of nylon into every conceivable product line possible.  They contacted a little company called Waltco -- and this reel was born.

All nylon parts with the exception of 14 or 15 screws, main shaft, bail, copper drag disc backer, and a couple of springs.

Best,

Fred

[Bill B]

My addition to this post would be a Bache Brown Spinster, made by the Airex Division of the Lionel Corporation....yes the company that made the model trains.  It comes with a cast aluminum frame and hard rubber (?) side plate, alum spool and a half bale.  Unfortunately this one is doomed to sit on the shelf as there are missing parts and a broken ar dog post inside.  Either way a fun reel to look at and handle....Bill




Has kind of a 50/50 bar look from the side 
 

[foakes]

Nice reel there, Bill --

I think that Bache Brown may ve late 40's, or early 50's.

Best,

Fred

[Maxed Out]

Found this one hanging around in my tackle room. 100% functional

[Maxed Out]

.....and it goes from lefty to direct drive to righty all with one little lever. This little reel is all metal with a cast one piece main body

[Shark Hunter]

When I was just learning to fish a young man, This was always the reel my Uncles would hand to me.
The Johnson Century. Then a 202 and 33, then stepped up to a Cardinal.

[foakes]

That is an old 100A, Ted --

The lettering appears to be a different style from the ones I have.

Thanks for posting --

Best,

Fred

[happyhooker]

Beautiful Century--classic.