Bear in mind that I am not a reel collector. Not in the usual way anyhow. I am not looking for pristine examples with boxes and manuals for greater value. Any old beaters that work or even may provide parts for others has been the extent of my acquisitions. My first interest was begun as a vintage user of vintage spin-cast reels as a kid contemporary to these reels, the later as an adult who wanted a few quality spin-cast reels to provide to my kids and grand-kids. During this casual pursuit that was stimulated a few years ago when my next oldest brother sent me one of the old Johnson Century reels that we enjoyed as children. It worked so smoothly and flawlessly that I had to share them.
Seldom have the relics of my idealized past reappeared that genuinely matched them in perfection. I had to share these lost gems, as my brother had shared them with me. My intent was for my brother to help capture this piece of fading American history while it was still in tact enough to document without backward revision. We were there for the most part. But my brother passed from this life. It was time. He was a salty old Viet Nam veteran, a sailor associated with the first West Coast Navy SEAL teams. And enlisted man and a lifer who's active life had run its course. I chose to dedicate this blog to my brother Ernie's memory as my chief childhood mentor and partner in adventures far and yon.
As I began to devote a modicum of time to this pursuit, I discovered that spin-cast reels from this era generally and Johnson fishing reels in particular were far more prolific in the models that I was aware of than I had realized. There are several models that I have never seen and until this recent research did not much recall or likely even ever knew existed. Some of these models that I have not yet had my hands of include the Johnson Gull, the Johnson Centennial (which my family had at least one of but which I recall very little about), the Johnson Skipper 125, and the Johnson 98. These last two models appear from pictures and comments that I have found regarding them to have plastic bells in lieu of the typical metal bells found on Johnson reels. There does not seem to be very many of these reels in circulation, so naturally I wonder about them.
In this pursuit I learned that few if any current production spin-cast reels hold a candle to the ones I grew up with. This led to a realization of an interesting history of spin-cast reels, the great variety of models made during the three-decade period when they were so popular. As an American design produced by American companies, spin-cast reels also represent an era of American industrial supremacy when quality and American made product exceptionalism was acknowledged by the rest of the world and American products were highly sought. Johnson Century 100 reels made from metals and the best then-emerging synthetics such as nylon are still working as well today as they were fresh off the sporting good shelves during the last half of the fifties and the first half of the sixties.
The great age of print advertising and genius marketing peaked during this era as well. These were times when ethical lines had been established and drawn and participants refused to cross them, but great marketing minds used creative genius and found fun and humor in shaping the perceptions of their finely made products--whether they were big ole gas-guzzling muscle cars from Detroit, lunar space modules, or finely crafted emerald green fishing reels. This was a time when post WWII Americans reveled, if only briefly, in patriotism, national pride, and in individual work ethic and their own sense of craftsmanship. This was a time when companies and labor was balanced with or without excessive pressure or interference of labor unions. It was a time when Americans were emerging from hardship and deprivation and their new-found plenty was not assured nor taken for granted.
This period that I am calling the Golden Age of Spin-cast Reels happens to parallel a magical time or my childhood and young adulthood. It is a special time in the history of mankind that will never happen again. I feel privileged to have been an active participant. This time has been criticized, idealized, immortalized, and will forever be analyzed. But for me, I find reality in the history of these old spin-cast reels as they parallel the rise and the fall of a unique era in world history. I look forward to yet experiencing the Johnson spin-cast reels that I have not yet experienced. It is my policy to inspect and dissect and use and pronounce an opinion regarding these old reels. I also like to provide helpful information to users who want to obtain and repair them.
This blog is not limited to Johnson spin-cast reels. I was and am partial to the very similar models of Abu Garcia spin-cast reels--Abumatics which appear to have evolved less and more sequentially than did Johnson reels, but were every bit as quality. I have supposed some kind of patent sharing arrangement between these companies, though I have not proved it. Abu Garcia was a Swedish company, originally a clock maker, and maker of fine bait-cast reels. Diawa is another great vintage spin-cast reel maker.
There are others. Shakespeare and South Bend. Then of course there was the huge proliferation of original spin-cast reels from the retooled Zero Bomb Company we knew and know as ZEBCO reels. There is fodder in the boxes of these brands of old spin-cast reels that I already have. I plan to obtain a few more, but for now I am merely trying to make sense of what I have at my fingertips.
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