Hey Bill (GreatLaker),
Nice Nov-1951 ad!
Mates,
At the start of this thread, I wrote there may be some interest in “how spinning changed fishing and the environment Mitchell was able to enter and lead in”. If so, I continue now with Bache Brown content. Bache Brown was often given credit for introducing spinning to the US.
I recognize discussing contemporary nonMitchell individuals and reels is a slippery slope. I do not want to go too far from Mitchell interest on MRM. So if you think I go to far, let me know I will respect that.
Here is content from an article in March 15, 1948 LIFE (a leading magazine of the time) titled:
THE SPINNING REEL
makes casting easy for duffers
oldtimers think it is too simple
Not certain what duffer might mean?
https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/duffer
- mrm 19480315 LIFE 141a Bache Brown.jpg (221.62 KiB) Viewed 18461 times
The extraordinary accuracy of the fisherman's cast in the picture above is made easy by a gadget called the spinning reel, which is the most revolutionary development in angling since the perfection of the fly rod. The reel is built on the same principle as a housewife’s sewing-machine bobbin and its operation is absurdly simple. The line will pay off 100 feet at the flick of a wrist without the conventional backcast which often fouls a line in over-hanging trees. Long popular in Europe, spinning was introduced seriously to the U.S. several years ago by Bache Brown (above), a Massachusetts architect who ran onto the method in Belgium. But it is just now catching on, and this year spin-fishermen are expected to account for 20% of the freshwater tackle sold in the U.S. Anyone can learn to spin-cast in 15 minutes, which is why many oldtimers look down on the likes of Bache Brown. When the duffers learn to spin-cast like veterans, they complain, there may not be enough fish to go around.
John
