RE: What brand is it? Antique fly reel
2007/09/04 23:47:52
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pghmarty,
Looks like an old Bristol Hardware or maybe a Union Hardware model. It appears to be a raised pillar model. Most of the better skeleton reels had some type of name on them. Or, they had a number on the bottom of the feet that indicated the # of yards of silk fly line they would hold. Don't think it's a meisselbach since it doesn't have intermediate holes around the edge. The picture is really bad. The rear support would tell a lot. If this one went for 31 bucks the seller made out well. The cheapest of these went for 25 cents in the 1910-1920 era. If it had a hole drilled right in the middle of the foot and a number that would tell a LOT. The really great makers always put their names on their reels for identification purposes. I know that isn't much help but I looked in 3 books and I don't see that one listed. Many of the "hardware store" reels were ment to be sold with no-name rods by hardware stores that sometimes put their own decals on them.
Illegitimis Non carborundum