Many years ago I inherited an old South Bend bamboo rod and a plastic fly reel from my wife's grandfather. The rod was in really bad shape and I kept it only as a keepsake. I remember the reel was a Horrocks-Ibbotson Vernley, made from Bakelite, with a click drag. Now this was back in my graphite rod days when I was still a callow youth who thought you needed a disc drag reel that was capable of stopping a submarine, so I thought the Vernley reel to be an el cheapo plastic reel, so I discarded it one day while cleaning out my shed. I mean after all, though it was in excellent condtion, it was still just a cheap old plastic reel, so why would I want to keep it? Wish I still had it, I would probably be using it on some of my short, light rods today.

Larry

Hadn't seen that one but had seen the 1850 series of reels that appear very similar. Seems they were made early on post-war in Hong Kong then moved to Japan. Had know idea about the history of H&I and the company's prominence in the early sporting goods industry here in the US. Wish I knew more about this kind of stuff and felt like I could trust e-bay. There seems to be some fair prices on this type of stuff on ebay but when I also see a near mint Hardy Perfect going for under a hundred bucks I become dubious about the actual item.

It would be neat to have a Verneley reel to with my rod but cant imagine Bakelite would balance that thing unless lead core line was used as backing.

It also seems as if anyone with early fly gear for sale has no idea about condition or anything else. I think I will probably stick to making my purchases here from the for sale subcategory.

While there were some not so good prewar reels, I'll show you why the concept of blue collar doesn't apply.
1917 Outside magazine ads for Horton/Bristol/Meek.

Horton sold Bristol steel rods side-by-side with Meek reels.
In today's money, the cost of each ranged from $300 to $900.
Some of the worst and priciest prewar fly reels were also made by Bristol.
If they don't hold their value over time, we call them Curiosities.
If they do, we call them Classics.
You'd be lucky to get $15 for a Bristol Steel rod today, but the Meek reels pretty much hold their original value in today's money.

A pretty good argument can be made that prewar tackle sold by general catalogs and hardware stores - Union Hardware, Sears, Wards, Western Auto, HSB&Co (later True Value) - counts as blue collar fishing tackle. But again, using Trev's example, common people didn't have the leisure time to give up, and even tougher to justify the purchase.
I still say the professional class went fly fishing between the wars, and frugal tackle was offered to them at such places.

Oh. I think the professional class always were the mainstream of anglers. They would have had both time and money to invest in a hobby. The higher end goods likely went to the wealthy though that only occasionally used it, more as an entertainment than hobby. But all that was before my days and the notion is just acquired from reading things like novels and how infrequently fishing is mentioned, and usually when mentioned it was the priest, physician, engineer or poacher wielding the rod.
In my grandfathers' generation, the merchant set trot-lines and the farmer gigged at night, or seined the creek with net wire fencing and a team of horses. The fishing was a job, providing food rather than leisure.

There was definitely a grand marketing campaign towards the American worker in the postwar years. I'd go so far to say the 50s were the high tide towards that trend in American consumerism. The Second World War expanded the American middle class far beyond what had it ever been.
One also has to remember however that there was a marked uptick in a professional class of folks and an economic boom in the early interwar years with a special emphasis placed on the northeast. There was also an extending of credit to this new economic class and to professionals living in urban, and what we would now deem as, suburban areas and an expanding of a credit system involving those in agrarian industries typically in the western and Midwestern states. This in my opinion was the first attempt at hard advertising towards a middle class by American industry. Of course this period led to the economic downfall seen in the waning years of the 1920s lasting until the mid to late 1930s.
I hold a masters in military history and one would think that this sort of thing would not have been in my purview during my course of studies however in this modern age where esteemed professors try and smash in as many aspects of a given subject so as to make the original intent almost impossible to distinguish, I was inundated with such. As has been said though many people did not have the time to spend on fishing or any other forms of leisure that many of us recognize today. While researching the interwar period, while in school, I began to think of my own family as it is a tale of two distinct regions and classes, professionally speaking though they both were very similar in economic fortunes. One grandfather was from southern Maryland the other from New England (I say New England as he traveled often to where his skill set was needed). My relatives from Maryland had no time for fishing but did so on occasion if it could be done close to home and provided a boost to the pantry. They did hunt a bit more as this put food in the pot more reliably and was generally outside of the growing season. They chiefly targeted waterfowl on the tidal Patuxent that had shores along their property. Money was made by raising tobacco so their time was devoted to the fields that sustained the family.
The yankee side of my family and, I know only of my grandfather and grandmother on that side, stood in stark contrast. My grandfather held a bachelor’s degree, and even had some post graduate course work. He taught school and wrote instructional books, as well as instructing frequently for various colleges across the northeast and the mid-Atlantic even some Ivy league schools like Yale. He hunted purely for sport and fly fished often. I never knew him, he passed even before the war, but have seen many pictures of him with sporting gear. The photos were not the best and it is hard to tell what rods he had but in one photo he is cradling a mid-grade Lefever side by side shotgun. This type of gentleman is who I think was targeted by the early sporting goods industry. All things considered I think everything from manufacture to advertisement was tailored or even omitted by region of the country. This being said truly there was not what we would deem “blue collar” equipment before the World War II but sporting goods did start to be offered to folks outside of the upper crust of society in the interwar years. I think this perhaps was where I was going with my original post and did not state it so well. I was trying to get at an economic class rather than making a distinction of what folks did to earn their daily bread.

This is just flat out awesome. I rarely if ever find anyone to talks about this kind of stuff and have never learned so much in one sitting in many years. This goes without mentioning the pictures that are just pure candy.

Man I love that agate that's an upgrade I sprung for on my custom 'boo. That reel is definitely from the bespoke era of fly gear. The newer high end stuff looks far too modern for me to view it as pretty or graceful.

Well, if you do want to change the subject to modern benchmade fly reels to match a modern benchmade cane fly rod, I'd recommend grabbing a Ted Godfrey reel while they're around - IMO, the best-designed modern conventional frame fly reel.
The only one made to let you get into the spool at streamside (very important if your tippet gets behind the spool - also made to lube without disassembling the reel, and a great adjustable click-pawl.
https://www.tedgodfrey.com/8-new-WESTMINSTER55.shtml

The 1555 foot fits my Fenwick, St Croix and W&M 'glass rods, I haven't fished with it but probably will. My doubt of it being "blue collar" was in the cost of the brass and I'm not sure it brass was cheap or costly at the time. fwiw, the foot doesn't appear to have been cut or filed it still has some paint. Wonder if different feet in different runs.
The Weber reel is a Duncan Briggs, I believe? '50s? Certainly blue collar.

wow !!!! That brass reel is gorgeous.

Ron asked me to add this photo here. This is the Airex family portrait. These reels were post WWII made by Lionel (yes, the toy train company). Although they were also marked Meisselbach, this was likely an infringement - if the Meisselbach name was registered as a trademark. They are die cast metal with some plastic parts. The engineering is such that there was very little handwork to complete the reel from the castings.

The majority of these reels were given the name Ablette. The family starts with the 370 (front right), which is the smallest and has a single pawl and no line guard. To it's left is the 371 373, which has the line guard and two pawls. The 372 371 is a larger capacity 370 (left front - although this one is a 375 without the line guard subbing for it's missing brother). I have not bagged one for the collection yet. The 375 is the larger capacity 371 373 (rear right). The 377 has an interesting variable drag design and the other features of the 375. Spare spools were available. The release is under that unobtainium, black plastic dome in the center of the spool. [Corrected the model numbers and added more photos and comments - Tom]

I've added photos of the interior of the 370 and 373 to show the single/double pawl setup. You can see both reels came from the same mold. The 370 shows the depressions in place for the second pawl and spring stud. The 373 shows tapped holes in place for anyone that wished to switch the line guard positions. The next photo is the backs of the 375 and 377. The adjustable drag knob is not well protected. I have to wonder how many of these were broken off the reel. The other Ablettes are almost bomb-proof. Finally, a photo of the 'manual'. Airex was not fussy about flipping the pawls from left to right. While it is nice to have the pay/wind feel significantly different, these reels aren't blessed with a tuna stopping drag. If you hook into something big on classic glass with an Ablette, you are in for an exciting ride! The 370/373 can probably hold 3/4 weight lines with a little backing while the 371/375/377 are more for a 5/6 weight line.

The reel in the left back is the Airex Taurus for saltwater and heavy fresh water. It is an anti-reverse reel in that the winding plate will not move backwards, but the winding knob will spin when you release it. For what it is worth, it is not well designed. Mine was frozen from corrosion and there was no easy way to disassemble it without cutting rivets. Compared to the Ablettes, the Taurus is a clunker designed by a committee that had never fly fished.


Tom



Model 370 and 373 - interiors
Model 375 and 377 - back view
The amazing Ablette manual, the back side was a parts list