Bronson Dart No. 905

[Headhunter]

On my way to the grocery store yesterday and spotted a yard sale with fishin rods! Yee ha! I stopped and had a look. They had aout 5 rods there and each had a fairly old spin cast style reels, mostly old Zebco's.

I then spotted an odd looking reel, again, spin casting.

It's a Bronson Dart, No. 905 and I picked it up for five bucks. An inital ebay search only netted me value, somewhere around $20.00.

Not lookin for any value thoughts, just anyone who has ever seen or used this reel or any other info they may have about it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-BRONSON-DART-9...p3286.m20.l1116

Thanks all!

HH

[Guest skeeter99]

here yah go

 

I actually have 4 of them in my display cases downstairs along with the antique lures

 

this book is the bible for tackle identification and values get one I got mine at chapters

 

it is written by Carl Luckey called Old fishing lures and Tackle

keep it in the car so when at flea markets and garage sales you can basically steal stuff from the vendors cause usually they have no idea what they are worth

 

oh yeah if you know anyone that has a jitterbug with a plastic bill rather than the aluminum I will pay huge to add to my collection

 

these were produced during the second world war using plastic rather than aluminum since it was used in the war effort and are extremly rare

 

here is a link to the book

http://www.antiquelures.com/Books.htm

 

 

Bronson Reel Company.

The Bronson Reel Company was organized in June 1922 by E. J. McMahon, who formerly had been the sales manager of the Shakespeare Company. When the factory started there were 15 people working in a small store building on North Matheson Street in Bronson, Michigan. By 1950 they were employing 300 people during peak times, and had a payroll in excess of $750,000.

 

In 1928 they built a new 15,000 square foot factory on North Douglas Street. By 1948 the building had been added on to until it was three times the original size. Just prior to World War II they had 135 different reels in their line, with a price range from 25 cents to $750 for the largest J.A. Coxe Salt Water reel. In 1931 Bronson purchased the famous Meisselbach-Catucci line of reels, and continued to produce many of the Symploreel models until WW II. They also purchased the previously mentioned J. A. Coxe Reel Company in 1934. The Coxe reels were some of the most famous big game reels ever produced, and they also developed a line of level wind casting reels.

 

In the 1940s and 50s Bronson claimed to be the largest manufacturer of fishing reels in the world. They had produced up to 9,000 reels in a single day, and throughout the early 1950s they were building in excess of 1,000,000 reels per year. They held over 62 patents for reels.

 

here is a link with some examples

 

http://66.51.163.9/fishing/collection/inde...level1/Bronson/

Edited May 26, 2009 by skeeter99

[Headhunter]

Thanks Skeeter! That the info I was hoping for and also, thanks for the link. I'll be sure to check it out.

Sorry, can't help ya with the Jitterbug, but I have some old CreekChubs with glass eyes lying around!

HH

[doodle]

How much is huge $$$ for the jitterbug??

 

 

 

 

 

here yah go

 

I actually have 4 of them in my display cases downstairs along with the antique lures

 

this book is the bible for tackle identification and values get one I got mine at chapters

 

it is written by Carl Luckey called Old fishing lures and Tackle

keep it in the car so when at flea markets and garage sales you can basically steal stuff from the vendors cause usually they have no idea what they are worth

 

oh yeah if you know anyone that has a jitterbug with a plastic bill rather than the aluminum I will pay huge to add to my collection

 

these were produced during the second world war using plastic rather than aluminum since it was used in the war effort and are extremly rare

 

here is a link to the book

http://www.antiquelures.com/Books.htm

 

 

Bronson Reel Company.

The Bronson Reel Company was organized in June 1922 by E. J. McMahon, who formerly had been the sales manager of the Shakespeare Company. When the factory started there were 15 people working in a small store building on North Matheson Street in Bronson, Michigan. By 1950 they were employing 300 people during peak times, and had a payroll in excess of $750,000.

 

In 1928 they built a new 15,000 square foot factory on North Douglas Street. By 1948 the building had been added on to until it was three times the original size. Just prior to World War II they had 135 different reels in their line, with a price range from 25 cents to $750 for the largest J.A. Coxe Salt Water reel. In 1931 Bronson purchased the famous Meisselbach-Catucci line of reels, and continued to produce many of the Symploreel models until WW II. They also purchased the previously mentioned J. A. Coxe Reel Company in 1934. The Coxe reels were some of the most famous big game reels ever produced, and they also developed a line of level wind casting reels.

 

In the 1940s and 50s Bronson claimed to be the largest manufacturer of fishing reels in the world. They had produced up to 9,000 reels in a single day, and throughout the early 1950s they were building in excess of 1,000,000 reels per year. They held over 62 patents for reels.

 

here is a link with some examples

 

http://66.51.163.9/fishing/collection/inde...level1/Bronson/