The Mannon Collection

[utyer 0]

I started tying in the 1950s, and most of the materials we had came from Herters. Later when I got back into tying in 1965, all the old materials were done in by bugs. The tools were still good, and that's what I started tying with. There was very little in the way of fly tying material in the sporting goods stores in those days. To get in a supply of materials, I made several orders to Herters. I continued to get supplies from them for about 10 years. What they did have in 1964 was pretty close in price to what your items show.

 

H Cook Colorado store that became a larger chain of stores in the southwest. By the late 1970s, H Cooks had become a chain owned by Zale Corporation (the Zales diamond stores.) The bought out the chain in SLC that I was working for, and RUINED it. Hank Roberts was distributing fly tying and fly fishing products in the west in those days.

 

I remember Mustad hooks priced at 1.99 and up to 3.99 by 1976. By then I was working in a sporting goods chain, and could get a good discount on all the materials, tools, and hooks I wanted. If I needed anything, I could simply ask for it to be inclueded on the next order.

 

Like most collections, your items span at least 2 or 3 decades. The fly reel could be 100 years old, but the line is much more modern. The line appears to be plastic coated, which would place it in the 1960. Most of your materials would date from the 1960 as well.

[ckpj99 0]

Thanks for all the amazing info. I'm really happy people are enjoying this post. Concerning the reels: I have two baitcasting reels. One is a Shakespeare Wondereel and it looks very similar to the one in the picture, but it has white handles instead of green. The green-handled reel is a Pflueger Akron, and I have no idea when it was made. If it's pre-war, that would be something pretty cool, however, I've seen them go on eBay for around $35, so I don't think they're that special.

 

As for the fly reel, the only stamping it has says "Featherweight NO. 260" and based on a quick internet search, I think it's a Meisselbach probably produced around 100 years ago. http://classicflyrodforum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=50624 Someone asked if that was the original line, and the answer to that is no. I actually use that reel occasionally and it has modern line on it. It didn't come to me with line on it.

 

Chase Creek asked if he could use the image as his desktop, and I'm fine if anyone wants to do that. I've attached a full resolution image to this post so it will look good in that application.

 

Thanks again. I'd love to hear more about the flies as well. I think it's great that so many are recognizable patterns.

[ckpj99 0]

FlaFly - there were no rods in the collection, however, there is a rusty old contraption I think it used to make rods. It holds a spool of thread and looks like it's for winding thread on to rods.

[FlaFly 0]

Here's some info on the Pfleuger Akron reel (scroll down) http://www.fishingtalks.com/pfleuger-reel-1893-355399.html

I think you'll be pleased with the info. You need to look for a model number on it, and keep your fingers crossed.

[PENZZZ 0]

Thanks for posting ckpj99, you're motivating me to photograph my Grandfather's collection of flies. My Grandfather died in 1952, one year before I was born. I guess his love for fly fishing leapt over a generation because none of his six children had an interest. Fortunately for me the wife of my uncle contacted me after Uncle Bruce died, offering a multiple-compartment box full of flies - my Grandfather's fly box. My uncle had shown it to me once. Not long after that a cousin contacted me, offering my Grandfather's fly tying vise. Of course I was ecstatic to have flies and vise in my possession. My mother tells me stories of when she was just a child, sitting on Grandfather's lap while he tied flies, occasionally sneaking his scissors to clip hairs from her arm. That would have been around 1930. Another story was about my Grandmother and some of the children waiting impatiently in the family sedan as darkness set in over a local stream. I sometimes wonder if I've fished in his footsteps on our local limestone streams.

Looks like I have a great winter project to look forward to. The Balliet Collection.

Thanks for sharing,
Jeff

[Ed Gallop 0]

I doubt the account is open. The check is my favorite because the tier took notes. There are many Atomic patterns but the Thor is a very popular pattern. I tied many of them and used then successfully. Nice old traditional fly, but polar bear has become scarce. I still have some, and the flies I tied with it, but I use skunk or bucktail on flies I give away. There is a synthetic polar bear hair that shines nicely but nothing looks quite as nice. The fan wing style dry was popular in the late 50s and 60s. I recognize a couple other flies and remember the thread. Gudebrod rod and tying thread was also popular in the 50s and 60s. I still have some antique hooks just like those, and some in round wooden boxes. You have a nice collection there.

[Bruce Norikane 0]

Hank Roberts opened the Hank Roberts fly fishing supplies company in 1953 and ran it until 1983, when he sold it and retired. I found a good article by Gordon Wickstrom which is linked below.

 

I don't recall his store, but the beautiful hand painted sign is still in the backyard of the Rocky Mountain Angler Flyshop. I've heard from a few people that their mothers tied flies for Roberts. Charlie Craven may have tied for them when he was quite young (I'm guessing on this one.)

 

quote from Gordon Wickstrom in the Boulder Daily Camera: ( http://www.dailycamera.com/ci_13074551 )

"...

Hank rapidly outgrew Public Service, and in 1953, just when Boulder began bursting with new life, he founded Hank Roberts, Inc., for the manufacture of his growing line of fishing tackle. In 1961, at 1033 Walnut St., now subsumed in the Daily Camera building, he debuted his then extraordinary Hank Roberts "fly shop."

Nothing like it had been seen before, nothing so stylish and carefully designed. Everything bespoke quality and class. His new and innovative flies were the centerpiece. Upstairs over the shop, Boulder women tied countless western flies for "western fishermen" — Hank was, I think, the first to take up that marketing battle cry: "Western Tackle for Western Fishermen."

This shop was altogether different from the thrown-together, haphazard displays of basic fishing tackle found in the ubiquitous sporting goods stores. This ultra-smart store may well have been the national prototype for fly shops as we know them today. It was a wonderful place to spend an hour browsing and indulging fantasies of trout.

And Hank was usually there to jawbone the customer in his cordially sardonic way. No one wore gabardine slacks with a Pendleton woolen shirt with as much panache. He was irrepressible, dashing and fast becoming a Boulder celebrity.

..."

[FlaFly 0]

CKPJ99

back to your collection, I did some searching, and your fly reel looks very much like the Shakespeare Feather Weight reel. Here's a front view. I have more pics from different angles.

[ckpj99 0]

Ed Gallop - I agree. I think the check really personalizes the collection and gives it a story, and I definitely wish he has left some polar bear hair with the rest of his supplies, but I bet a few of those flies have it on them.

 

Bruce - that article is great. Thanks so posting it. I would have loved to visit that store when it was still open.

 

FlaFly - Since posting that photo, I took another look at the reel and it's definitely a Meisselbach. I found the brand mark. It's the less desirable version made of stamped metal, but it's from the first or second decade of the 1900s.

[FlaFly 0]

So it's still a real nice find!