The Gold Cook's Premier fishing reel is one of the nicest examples that I have of a rebadged Johnson Century 100A that was specially made for another company. I happened to snag this one off of ebay. They are fairly rare, so not many people even know that they existed, so I had little bid competition.On another day I could have easily been outbid beyond what I am willing to pay. This one came to me in mint condition. It is still pretty nice, although I haven't used mcuh care in letting it rub up against other reels and get a few superdficially scratches. It doesn't matter because I will keep this one. If we can call a fishing reel pretty, this one is.
The Johnson Century 100, 100A, and 100B was a huge success. So much so that it inspired numerous other spin-cast reel spin-offs that were marketed by other manufacturers. Most of them are easily recognizable as using the same basic mechanisms as did the Johnson models. Over half a century later, the Johnson Century is still apparent in those most modern spin-cast reels designed and manufactured under the John so label and all other labels. Those early competitive brand reels are so obviously similar that I wonder how they got around the Johnson patents. I don't know but what the other companies paid Johnson royalties or otherwise compensated Johnson for the similarities in their own designs. My research into these questions has just begun, so I don't yet have any answers about this, but I hope to have more soon. I invite anyone who may have insight into these questions to comment and help bring these things to resolution.
However, there were also specific Johnson made reels that were specially made by Johnson to be re-badged under other labels. I have been told that there were several of these including those for Montgomery Ward, Sears, and Cook Premier. The only one of these that I actually have examples of in my possession is the Cooks Premier brand. The one I have is a near-mint condition gold model. It is a beautiful reel.
I also have in my possession, what is likely an unauthorized cheap Japanese imitation of the Johnson Century 100 model spincast reel. It was sold under the name Jorgensen Cub spin-cast reel. It is silver and resembles the Johnson model a great deal in appearance. However, the metal and other materials are much flimsier. The painting is inferior, and the design lacks certain subtle nuances that provide a much greater appreciation for the engineering that went into the Johnson Century reel. As a result of having used many different reels of this vintage with a critical eye of comparison, I can tell you that minute alterations in the shape and placement of the bell, the hole in the bell through which the line runs, the spool cover, and the spool, to mention a few is critical to the proper release and retrieval of the line. Clearly some science was involved in determining these tolerances as well a great deal of trial and error.
Having repaired quite a few old reels over the years, I have discovered that very slight changes, such as flipping what appears to be a standard washer, or doubling-up standard thickness washers to increase their thickness can make a world of difference in the operation of a reel. In order to fully maximize the design and all of the features of a given reel model, it is necessary to fully understand the purpose of each feature and how it was designed to work. Sometimes this is not as easy as it sounds. The way we fish today has changed quite a bit in sixty years. But in order to make these old vintage reels work as they should, we must understand how the old-timers who were being targeted as a market back in the day, fished, and what their status quo was.
I feel that some of these features were not quite grasped by the Japanese manufacturer of the Jorgensen Cub copy of the Johnson, may not have understood these things, as these copies do not work as well as do the originals--even though they look almost exactly alike in all but cosmetic aspects. I have both worked for modern Japanese companies as well as have used Japanese made products over the period of times that they went from being a minor player in manufacturing consumer goods to being recognized as a viable producer of excellent product at affordable prices of virtually all kinds of consumer goods.
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