Abbey & Imbrie.
Abbey
& Imbrie is a name that takes tackle collectors all the way back to shortly
after the Civil War. In 1875 L. H. Abbey and C. F. Imbrie merged with the
Andrew Clerk & Company, to become Abbey & Imbrie. Andrew Clerk had been
in the fishing tackle business since 1820, stayed on for a while and then
retired. The A & I famous crossed fishhook Trademark was granted in
1877, and early products usually show this trademark. The gold fish that hung
over their door for forty years was a very famous landmark for anglers in the
late 1800s and early 1900s.
Abbey & Imbrie probably didn't manufacture anything.
However, they contracted with some of the better manufacturers to have a full
line of fishing products available for customers at their retail store in New
York City, and through their mail order catalogs. The reels of Julius vom Hofe,
A.F. Meisselbach and probably many other makers were stamped with their name.
Lures were manufactured for A&I by Heddon, as well as several others. They
had their first rods built by Hiram Leonard, but later rods were manufactured by
several different makers. All of this high quality tackle was wholesaled to
dealers throughout the east, as well as retailed directly to fishermen.
Abbey & Imbrie was purchased by Horrock's-Ibbotson in the
1930s.